


Rot

by Muddled_Crow



Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Gore, Canon-Typical Violence, Daud is an idiot, Disease, Heavy Angst, Low Chaos Corvo Attano, Low Chaos Daud (Dishonored), M/M, Minor Character Deaths, Mystery, Post-Dishonored (Video Game), Self-Destruction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2019-09-06 14:03:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 22
Words: 52,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16834075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Muddled_Crow/pseuds/Muddled_Crow
Summary: Having escaped his makeshift prison, Corvo enters Central Rudshore, finding it empty. The only man left except for the weepers, is Daud... The same man who imprisoned him...





	1. Daud's Journal

A black handprint drew Corvo’s attention to the book, laying on Daud’s bed. Black as the stains on his sword, and what stained his mask as well. Black as the gloves of Daud, who he had left where he blinked after their duel. Black as the maps, wanted posters around. There was so much.

He snatched the book from it’s place, not caring about the stains, for they were clearly dried by now. Daud hadn’t written in hours, at least.

He opened it, browsing the pages quickly, looking for more stains. He stopped where he found some.

He read a few words. Then went back to what seemed to be the beginning, sitting down onto the bed, that had too many stains by the sheets used as a pillow too.

-

_A rare sight, pirate ships._

_One passed by in the river, just past the barricades, that the former residences the place put their hope in. Too close to the river bed for comfort sometimes too, they seemed to be out of their element. Which only proved to be a boon for the men, not having fought pirates before. They are known for their unpredictability, which would prove to be a good training exercise for them._

_So we attacked, surprising the men on board. We left most of them alive, but cut a few throats to send a message. Took their spoils too, I’m not the type to resist the song of bonecharms and runes, while the men gladly hauled off the food and fine wool and silk. They spoke a language I recognize from my days as a boy, my mother occasionally muttering words sounding like those muttered and spat by the pirates. Means only one thing._

_The men will feast tonight, their loud jabbering proves that. I’m joining, those spices is not something you see often._

_-_

_The men is training like they should, despite the hangover I’m sure they all have. No sleep tonight either- it’s nothing new, been like this since she fell. I’ve realised by now, that trying to forget about it is fruitless. It’s something I will have to carry along with me for the rest of my life, and realizing this, makes me okay with it. It’s to remind myself that my men is staying out of this. If my gut feeling doesn’t betray me, I know this will be bear consequences. Considering Corvo have recently escaped Coldridge, I’d say he will come looking for me._

_Billie’s watching me write like usual. She has been watching more closely after I snapped that bonecharm out of her hands, curious to why, that is obvious._

_Best to keep these bonecharms and runes out of their reach for now- until I figure them out. I’ll look at them more closely at them when this bottle of Whiskey is empty. Got to buy some cigars too._

_-_

_The men had to take care of a few weepers this morning, so nothing new on that front. Although, they are filling up in numbers, so I had the men take down a few barriers, to let more water into the streets. It will make it harder to travel around, but if it keeps the weepers out and in their own place, so be it. And as Rinaldo so cheerfully mentioned, it makes so our enemies will most likely not bother go looking for us here. Especially if we keep to this kind of silence as we have up until now._

_Billie demanded to get to know why I took the bonecharm from her, this evening. I told her the truth, there is no need to hide it from her, for she would know anyway, despite not hearing the songs coming from these bones. The song is ancient, different from the other bonecharms I’m letting the men carry._

_I suppose she understood. Perhaps not realising the danger behind them, so now the key stays on me at all times._

_(Don’t try, Billie. I know you’re reading these.)_

_Now it’s to figure out where Griffin as moved. I already owe Thomas two cigars- that should be enough._

_-_

_Bonecharm’s keeping me up- together with my mind. It’s song feels like it’s burrowing into my mind at night, getting more and more intense when I have no ability to wash it out with distractions. Something tells me to move it._

_Or try it._

_Will see what it ends up with._

_-_

_The men I sent to watch Slackjaw’s movements swore they told the truth. I guess I got no other choice than to believe them, considering what happened to the High Overseer, and all those new posters the guards were putting up a mere hour since I left Griffin’s earlier. Words were scribbled by the sentence; (Don’t owe Thomas anymore) It was Corvo’s work- and surprisingly gentle for someone of his position._

_A fitting end._

_Corvo is a dangerous man despite his careful approaches so far, so keeping the men on their toes no matter what is the wise choice in this._

-

A sketch of a bonecharm met Corvo on the other page, together with a few notes, and a small, prickly piece of bone lodged into the page.

_A cold feeling to it_

_Different song than the others_

_Effect unknown, will figure it out as I wear it_

_Feels old. Very old_

…

Something in Corvo had him look up. Look out towards the direction of Daud, wondering why he didn’t hear anyone outside. Corvo was gone from the Master Assassin, why hadn’t none of the Whaler’s gone to him? The real question though, was why no Whaler was around when Corvo approached, else from at the entrance. It didn’t help that it started raining too, Corvo looking to his feet for a moment. His lips pursed, his head tilting up, and looking up for a good while, the book now resting beside him.

Then he got up, heaving himself heavily up from the bed. He went down the stairs, making sounds as he did, just to see if any Whaler would pop up all of sudden.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Then the footsteps changed their tunes, to then sound familiar again as he stepped over the makeshift bridge.

Daud was still there, sitting as he did, looking frozen in time. Ears were clogged, so he didn’t hear Corvo from his side. He didn’t see him either, his eyes were closed. He looked dead, but the steady heaving of his chest, the wheezing Corvo first now heard once he got closer to him… Barely so, Daud was alive.

Hands reached out to the man, cupping his face with one, and one resting on his shoulder. The other man was quick to open his eyes, glaring at Corvo for a good moment, then to his hand. To his nose. To his eyes. And when their eyes met, Corvo looked away. He moved to sit more calculated, then heaved Daud’s heavy body over his shoulder, like he always did. He carried him across the bridge, up the stairs, while Daud didn’t move nor protest. He just bled, and made sure to breathe.

Daud grunted once he met with the bed, hand immediately moving to the wound on his side. He squirmed for a moment, most likely getting more comfortable, and trying to find his bearings. He understood after a little while that Corvo was doing. He supposed, by how Corvo straightened his back, looking at Daud for a little while, that this was an act of kindness.

Managing a silent chuckle that was only visible by the sudden movement in his chest, Daud stopped it quickly when he saw the hulk figure of the Lord Protector settle down on his bedside, and pick up what looked like his old diary.

He kept quiet. Remembering what was written in that book, he supposed there was no harm in letting Corvo read it. Get some answers.

Black sludge coming out of a man in times of the plague was most certainly a thing to be questioned. For both of them by now.

Daud moved, laying his head to the side to unclog his ear, so he could get some rest as well.

Corvo did seem to allow it- as he turned his attention back to the diary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! c: This is Rot, a bitesized fanfic I've posted on my tumblr for a while- that I decided to move over here, just in case. c:
> 
> Hope you guys like it- and do be warned, it's a bit heavy.


	2. Revelations

_Due to the elixir’s, I sent more men to watch the movements of the Bottle Street Gang, this time making sure they’re in uniform. Three men, not showing up before early in the morning the next day, carrying a few elixirs they picked up from Slackjaw’s hideout. Because of Corvo’s business with Slackjaw and his gang, they were able to sneak in easily after waking up in a pile in a trash can. They’re cleaning their uniforms as I’m writing this._

_It’s clear that Corvo got the best of them. Like yesterday, they saw nothing else from after they woke up._   
_The men at least had a few news to report about. Corvo shot a bargain with Slackjaw, and it resulted in the Pendelton twins being sent off to their own mines. The men saw the young Empress in the streets too. Dunwall never ceases to surprise me. She was let go to her destination, a move that deserves it’s rewards, and for a while, her and the old man in the boat waited, to let Corvo on as well. Then they left, the men not able to follow for long due to moving far into the river. They went towards the Tower though, so they have to be around the districts. Better to leave them alone. I’ve done enough damage._

_I’ll keep the men at home for now. Blood ox evening does make a man want to stay._

_Another dream about Corvo. They’re getting more frequent._

_He approached, walking carefully. Stopped and drew his sword as I spoke, but no words sounded in my ears. Wonder what I said._   
_We fought for days. We wouldn’t stop. Not before Dunwall crumbled around us, in a sea of rats and weepers, in the end swallowing both of us whole. Maybe it’s a wish of mine, maybe it’s a unconscious want to be punished. I wouldn’t know. “Luckily” the bonecharm woke me up, with it’s low hum of a song, that still get’s worse at night, together with a confined headache. Starts in the back, stays there until I get up._

A walk and I’m sure it’ll pass.

Corvo skimmed over the next few pages. There was nothing too interesting written on them, mostly just what seemed to be “normal” days in the Flooded District. There he learned more names of certain whalers, of the routines they have kept to and how things worked for the whalers and their boss, Daud was very good at writing about his men, and little about himself, his words about them neutral yet somehow caring. Like a boss that looks out for his workers more than he needed to, without realising it himself. He skimmed on, until things started to pick up, certain sentences catching Corvo’s attention, as if his eyes snapped to them without realising it after he was done reading them.

_Headaches started to get worse when I’m lying down, or trying to get some rest. It is tearing my skull apart, and radiating down into my neck, spine and legs. Starts from the head, goes down. Makes it hard to breathe sometimes too, but I’m not letting it stop me while we’re stalking the contracts we got just recently. A noble wanted their husband dead before he died to the plague. A hard deal to make, but the coin was worth it. I had the men I took along bathe when we got home. They’ve yet to realise it’s just as easy for them to catch the plague as anyone else._   
_But I’ll keep this up. This is nothing._

A few days had been skipped, which was unusual when it came to Daud. Until now he hadn’t skipped one single day in the book. Corvo paid it no mind, however.

Feel the blood running down my hands from that noble. He was just a weeper. Dead already.  
_It isn’t new, this feeling. She was the first. And now, he will be last._

-

_Black Eyed Bastard visited me. Started with how the years had gone by, and how much blood I’ve spilled. Old news. For a moment I started to wonder if he was bored, wanting to keep pestering me for old times sake, until he spoke of something that caught my attention. A name._   
_Delilah._

_Who or what is this Delilah? What significance does this name have, and what weight does it carry?_   
_I’ll figure that out soon enough._

_For now it’s to try to rest. See if that infernal headache will let me. Being in the Void made it worse, and I did catch The Outsider looking to my arm. That just makes it more interesting._

-

Arm? Corvo looked up from the book slowly, and back to Daud, twisting his neck as much as he could, but his torso ended up following too. He moved slow, to let Daud rest or something. He has his back turned to Corvo, the man curled up in a ball as well, breathing erratically. His eyes travelled around on Daud’s arm, from what he could see, it seemed like the bonecharm had been removed. It was just one way to find out about that, so Corvo moved his arm in a natural pace towards Daud’s shoulder, palm outstretched, and touched him. In a flurry of red leather and black gloves Daud turned around as well as getting up to sit, and a hand lodged itself around Corvo’s neck all too quickly. It was incredible speed for a man as hurt as Daud was, and it showed on his face that it took quite the toll on him.  
He instantly brought up his free hand, coughing violently into it so it wouldn’t end up anywhere else. But the thing was, it did. No matter how much Daud tried to keep it away it still stained his red leather coat and shirt blacker than it already was. Good thing about this fit was that Daud let go of Corvo, for what reason, only he knew, and as Corvo rubbed at his neck, he guessed Daud wouldn’t tell him.

“… You’re still wearing it, aren’t you?”

Daud stared blankly into nothing while his arm lowered itself slowly. His eyes eventually focused, darting to Corvo’s. He just glared at Corvo, then laid down as he was before he got up, not in the mood to talk, it seemed. Corvo frowned deeply, and casually put a hand on Daud’s face, as if pressing him down, not caring that he would get the sludge on him like always. Daud made a very deep and low grumble, a warning to Corvo. That he would spill more blood if he had to. Kill him if he had to. Corvo knew this, but… He started to feel for that bonecharm again. He guessed it was on the left one if he still worse it, considering it was how Daud laid, with his left arm up.  
That how he decided to fall too when Corvo dropped him after lifting him up, to fight the urge to kill him.

Daud slowly moved his arm. To warn Corvo again.  
Corvo didn’t stop, and that had Daud spring up just as Corvo felt that bonecharm under the shirt Daud was wearing. Soon Corvo found himself under Daud on the bed, wrestling with him to get the hands off his throat. Daud’s strength was wavering quickly, giving Corvo his breath back, for the punch against his chest when Daud flipped him over was so hard it knocked the air out of him. With a solid knee to Daud’s side the man released his grip of Corvo, grunting low and trying to get his bearings, before a fist flew uncontrolled towards the Lord Protector’s face. Due to how sudden this was Corvo was hit, it was a hard one too, making him taste blood.  
“Fuck- Daud!!” Corvo roared, grabbing after the man, and managing to get Daud’s arms, that now overpowered him, and sent them straight down into the bed, the assassins grip digging into Corvo’s skin. But Corvo got out of it by jerking his hands away quickly, and punched Daud, hopefully hard enough to get him off, so that he could get the advantage again, and he managed. He rolled Daud to the side, then to his back, all while Corvo straddled Daud, needing to bite back the intense lust of punching Daud until he was unconscious.  
But Corvo didn’t, and the way Daud curled up once he was laid on his back for a slight moment, had Corvo even hesitate. Which was a grave mistake, for now Daud managed to turn Corvo around, a arm suddenly on his thigh, suddenly arms were everywhere in the Lord Protector’s mind, and they were as they started, Daud straddling Corvo, and hands on his throat… Again… Daud had a lazy look in his eyes, like he wasn’t quite there… Placing a grip on Daud’s arms, Corvo started struggling against the assassins grip.  
Corvo grunted loudly once he tore Daud’s arms off him again, throwing them to the side, and Daud’s torso as well a little bit, the man grunting loudly when he tried to catch himself from falling to keep himself up, but he didn’t manage, so he crashed down on Corvo’s chest, his entire weight on it too.  
Arms rested to his side as he laid there heaving for breath.

Corvo stared down to him as he caught his own breath, eyes wide. He could turn this around quickly. But…  
By the look of him, Daud was in extreme pain, even unable to breathe.

“Enough fucking fighting, Daud!!” Corvo rasped, about to grab Daud’s hair and get him off him, but something in him stopped him. Instead he put a hand on Daud’s head, palm out, not planning to hurt him. The touch made Daud seem to panic, and he slammed his fist against Corvo’s chest all of sudden, sitting up again so fast he got dizzy, even making him hold his head.  
Wheezing, Corvo suddenly moved up and took a hold of Daud’s waist, a hand on each side, and pressed it, then slapped the wound he made on Daud’s right side with an open palm, to cause more pain than further injury.  
Daud’s voice rang through Corvo’s ears worse than any alarm he had heard, for the assassin roared in pain. And stopped his aggressive attacking immediately, a hand moving to the wound, holding it desperately. He had a few seconds of what seemed to be clarity, the man wide eyed staring down to Corvo, with an almost pleading look in his eyes, before he seemed to lose consciousness, and fell onto Corvo’s chest again.

Corvo was shaken, although mildly. He found himself glaring at Daud for a good solid minute due to the annoyance of him having to go unconscious on his chest, the lust of wanting to kill him rising. But this was what he wanted.  
He wouldn’t had sent off all his Whaler’s and stay behind to fight him alone if that was the case. He wouldn’t had shown that he was alone, by finding him himself, and taking him to the cage. Then to the refinery…

Oh- Daud would live. No matter what, no matter what that bonecharm was doing to him. He would live.

So Corvo, begrudgingly brought his arm around the assassin, moving him a bit, so that Corvo could continue to read.  
The book had been kicked a bit around, so it rested against the wall and put towards Daud’s leg, so Corvo casually managed to fish it up to his hands, without moving all too much, nor letting Daud move. Keeping him unconscious was the best choice, obviously.  
Corvo moved Daud’s head a bit, to not have his cheekbones digging in his chest. And even though it was very tempting, Corvo managed to keep his hand away from the bonecharm on Daud’s arm for now. Then he got comfortable, opening the book and finding where he left off.

A few days had gone by again before Daud had written anything.

_I had Billie look into that name, Delilah. She things down to a slaughter house, owned by a man named Rothwild. A former deck hand, that made good. I believe it’s time for a visit._   
_I’m taking Billie with me, as well as a few other men that will stay in the shadows, making sure everything goes well. This is too important. That black eyed bastard knows I can’t abide a mystery, let us hope I’ll be entertaining enough for him._


	3. Death

_We got the information we wanted out of Rothwild, after a few moments of interrogation. He wasn't a hard nut to crack- he gave in eventually_  
_Seems Delilah is a woman, a painter that the Barrister, Timsh fell for, and became afraid of. He named the ship after her. I sent a few men out to scout the place, including Billie, and they returned with good news. There seems to be a war in the family, between Timsh and his niece, Thalia._

_I sent a letter, requesting Thalia meet in an alley near the good barristers residence. So now it's just to prepare. A rest will be good for now, my skull is splitting in two. Started coughing too, but I suppress it until I get a chance to be noisy. Looking to the bonecharm, it seems to be at fault. The effects of it are as follows; Unparalleled strength, with the cons of it being that it gives a terrible headache and coughing. It's liveable, so I'll keep it on for now.__  
_A sentence was set beside the text;_  
_I can carry twice my own weight without any problems. It's incredible_

-

_Another nightmare about Corvo._  
_We were home in Serkonos, Corvo looking like he belonged. Belonged walking over the Bloodflies nests, together with the weepers, all while I was stuck up against a wall of crossbow bolts, digging into my back. A simple push to my chest by the Lord Protector, and I woke up, throwing my book so hard against the wall it shattered. That's another copy of "The Lighthouse" ruined somehow. I'll find another one on my way to Thalia._

Corvo sighed. Getting Daud to stay calm seem to be a hard bargain to hope for, due to these nightmares Daud had about him. He must think Corvo wants him dead, even though he just recently spared him. And even took him to bed to let him rest...  
But Daud wasn't himself. Not even when they fought.

So he let his eyes stay on the book, heart missing a beat when Daud coughed weakly.

_Thalia had some answers, and the Barrister is in Coldridge, evicted from his own mansion due to a forged paper by a gentleman that wanted revenge. The most important thing she told me was that Delilah had been in Brigmore Mansion. An old mansion claimed by many gangs during the years. Now it's home to a coven of witches, lead by Delilah. So now it's to find out how to get there, and find a way to eliminate her, without spilling blood._  
_When I got home from our mission, Billie who had gone before me told me we had been attacked by Overseer's._

_I found many of my men dead, laid around like decorations for the Overseer's pleasure. No matter how much I wanted to kill them, I choked them out. Picked up my men and moved them, all to be buried._  
_There were surviving men too, and they were bound up, tortured by the Ancient Music. Music which made my headaches and coughing better. I rescued them all, and we rounded up the remaining Overseer's. They're all kept in a cell in the refinery for now. It'll send a message._  
_But... Billie betrayed me, she had been working with Delilah. The betrayal was expected, but Delilah was a surprise. It doesn't matter now._  
_I let her go. She's on her way out of the city as I write this. Thomas took her place, and are now working out a plan to get us to Brigmore, for Delilah was so kind to make me sure she now stays there_.

This was the first page where some black sludge was. It was dried, with a brown shine to it, meaning there was blood in it. And smeared out, as if Daud checked it.  
A few notes about it was written beside the stain. _Coughed up this. Smells rotten, and like blood. Explains the coughing_.

Something was written on the page in a shaky hand.  
_Bonecharm started burning into my arm while we buried the men, through the belt. It was painful, but nothing I couldn't handle. Been enough betrayal in the ranks. At least the men got the burial they deserve._  
_Arm is black, shoulder too. Will keep it monitored._  
_A sketch of his arm was placed by the words too._

  
_The men has started noticing._

_Occasional_ _stares while they think I'm not looking, eyes wandering, from head to toe, landing on my eyes. They think their masks shield them, but I feel it. Always did._

_Nobody has gathered the courage to ask. It's either that, or it is the matter concerning the witches that stop them. I did teach them to focus on one thing, still teaching some of the novices, their eyes rest too long for comfort. I'm glad it's paying off, anything more to worry about than what we're dealing with right now would prove a distraction, and needless one too._  
_Delilah's what's important now. They have best to keep that in mind._

_We're moving to get Lizzy Stride out of prison. A favour for a favour, hopefully she'll be willing to listen._  
_Had my men raid the offices of the Overseer's for a uniform that fit me, and we intercepted one that was on their way to the prison to see what had happened, concerning something supernatural. It seems a witch was captured, and made sure to not tell the guards interrogating her nothing. Now I know just a fraction of what I'm up against._

_And while we were on our way to Draper's Ward, I started noticing that the men were suppressing their own coughs. Some who couldn't._  
_I'm afraid it's the plague._

_But once Quinn removed his mask while watching Lizzy- I understood the cough. Same as mine. Only worse- blacker._

_-_

_I cleared out the Draper's Ward, got Lizzy's betrayer under wraps and her ships engine coil from the Hatter's, after a lot of work and even a trip to the sewers. There I met a few witches, one who so helplessly asked for help. I didn't bite- let her get up, then grabbed her and choked her unconscious. Another one was talking to a statue of Delilah, the same kind I found at Timsh's. If I bothered too, I would had destroyed it._  
_Now we are on our way to Brigmore, after more witches attacked us. They killed many of the Dead Eels gang, so we are working on the ship to get it going._

_But Lizzy came to me with bad news._  
_One of my men is dead. Fell over, couldn't breathe._

_Removing his mask revealed black sludge had choked him. Throwing my men a look, I could tell that they had the same problem. And they're rapidly getting worse._  
_There's coughing from both me and my men. The Dead Eel's are keeping as far away from us as possible, and for good reason._

_Now it's to remove the bonecharm. It's poisoning my men._

  
_A lot of black sludge was on the following pages. Pure black._

_Delilah is trapped in her own painting, and we're home. She wanted to take over Emily's body, and rule as Empress. I stopped it by trapping her as I did._

_The men is in pain, some coughing violently and uncontrolled. I'm still alright, although in mild pain. They're telling me this isn't my fault, that it's fine, they'll get better, this won't kill them._  
_The black bonecharm rotted my entire chest by now. It's around my heart. Attempting to remove it caused a lapse in consciousness and intense pain, and will kill me as it looks like now. The men just smiled when they saw I couldn't remove it. Then swallowed down the sludge._

-

_I killed them to spare them the pain. If it is like it is with me, it will take too long for them to die. Those unaffected I sent away_

-

A few days had been skipped.  
_Found a poisoned Corvo. He'll come for me._

  
The dairy fell to the floor with a small thud.  
Corvo sat up, holding his arms around Daud, moving Daud's hand from him, and... That's when he noticed that a part of Daud's left arm was very hard. Like rock, almost. Making sure Daud was still unconscious, Corvo laid Daud down on the bed carefully to not wake him, and removed his glove, finding a black hand, with a nearly hidden Outsider's Mark, and hard as rock black sludge circling a part of his hand.  
What kind of bonecharm was this!?

Corvo proceeded to undress Daud, quickly and almost obsessively as well. He ripped open his shirt, and was met with extractly what Daud had loosely described. His entire torso was black, including a part of his neck, something that Corvo actually could see. With a racing heart Corvo checked for a pulse, and found one. His hand on Daud's neck moved down, across the blackness of the skin, finding it cold as ice, and feeling wrong.  
Daud woke up due to this, Corvo quick to restrain the man that just looked confused for a moment, before realising what was going on. He gritted his teeth, but didn't fight Corvo's restrains.

"... Get your hands off me." Daud muttered, sounding strangled as he spoke. It was the first words he spoke to Corvo. Daud had been quiet when he ferried Corvo to the lift, threw his things away, and brought Corvo to the prison.

Corvo didn't move, though.  
"You are a fucking idiot, Daud." A chuckle followed Corvo's words. "But no coward. Good- For I won't let you die. Nor kill yourself."  
"I won't kill myself, Attano." Daud sneered, a smirk across his face that said so much about how he was feeling. All too much.

"I deserve this."

"Yes- you do." Corvo muttered. "Are you going to try to kill me again?"

Daud blinked. "Again?"

...

"... Never mind. Do you have anything to stop your bleeding?"  
Corvo started to look around, refusing to use the blanket lying messed up on the bed.

Daud just sighed, looking to his alright arm, and that was when he realised that he was undressed. And it honestly... Didn't bother him. "Use my shirt."

"No."

"... Fine, there's something you can use in my chest."

Corvo got up, let Daud go. He sat up as he watched Corvo head down the stairs.

"What are you doing, Attano?"

"Taking you with me." Corvo said loudly, his voice echoing under Daud.

"Why...?"

"You'll stay alive if I keep an eye on you."

... Daud didn't say anything. He just sighed deeply. He understood a part of the question.

"Why?" He asked.

"You're a mystery with that bonecharm. I can't abide a mystery."

  
... Daud looked surprised to nothing in particular. And when Corvo came walking up with Daud's key in his hand, Daud just... Got a smirk.  
How alike they are.


	4. Too Close

A loud racket sounded behind Corvo as he just had managed to catch himself jumping down from a rooftop building. He knew exactly what it was, so it didn't surprise him, at all. Instead, he made a sharp turn, returning to the man that was on his knees, struggling to get up. Struggling to even move.

"Do you think wringing yourself out of my grip in midair is wise, Daud?" Corvo growled quietly, annoyed. But, not annoyed enough to not sit down to his level, lifting up the man's face to look at him, see if he was still conscious. He didn't even care if he got some black sludge on him. Not at all, the Lord Protector had been through worse, especially considering the weepers around Dunwall, and on his way to Daud.

Daud just sneered. And out of the blue, he ended up casually wringing an arm around Corvo, throwing both of them down onto the ground, quickly too. Thinking he was about to be attacked again, Corvo resisted and almost got up, but found that when they were just lying there, he started to take a guess or two to why, looking to Daud, who looked relaxed, yet cautious.  
They were stationed up against a wall, Corvo, despite his best efforts, didn't understand anything about this positioning, nor anything anything else. Corvo with his mask off, frowned deeply to Daud, trying to wriggle out of Daud's arm, but as Daud put up a finger to his mouth, moving his arm slowly, Corvo got it all too quickly, especially considering the footsteps he heard. And the coughing too. It sounded like guards.  
It didn't really surprise him that they were around here, they were in the progress of sneaking past Tallboys and guards. Just barely beginning, in fact. And considering they were unable to move at the moment, and Corvo had very few elixir's from Piero's left, they had no other choice than to play dead. Not even minding the lack of personal space, Corvo slipped his head quickly into Daud's chest, Daud slowly hiding Corvo using himself, the man's wide chest helping immensely. And burying his face in Corvo's hair helped hide Daud too, as he laid facing the wall, forehead scraping against it. This was... Very intimate. Too much, in fact, both men uncomfortable. But it needed to be done...

... They laid completely still, letting their breathing slow down almost to a halt, breathing synchronised without even realising it. It was a hard bargain for Daud, who could barely breathe in general.

"Shit- more of 'em... Got too close too." The guards had to take notice of them. But of course they would.

"Be glad you're wearin' your mask, Scott. The red one looks like it lived in a trashcan."

"Shut up and get some blankets. They're too close to the door."

"Sir." Scott went off, leaving what seemed to be his commanding officer. He was curious, as he probably shouldn't be, and headed up to the two corpses. "Let's see what you've got for me..."

Not going to let themselves be looted, Daud all too quickly, and together with Corvo managed to restrain the man before he could even yelp, Daud first to twist himself around after letting go of Corvo, and grabbing the man's throat, keeping him quiet until Corvo managed to slip up to his feet, and took the guard off his. He fell to the ground with a grunt, Daud following his movements to keep him silent, and punching him solid right in the face to put him out for a good hour or so with his free hand.  
Corvo then grabbed the guard and threw him over his shoulder, Daud already getting up to his feet to move, but was stopped by Corvo grabbing his waist, not minding his wound for a moment, until they both appeared on another floor of the ruined buildings they used to sneak around in.  
As soon as Daud registered what had happened, he let himself cough, and it was much needed. Corvo put the guard away, and went to Daud, hitting his back a few times to help him get it over with, and to get him moving again, his expression annoyed.

"We need to move." Corvo spoke as he looked to the side, watching the Tallboys stomp by, something they both felt in their bodies.

Wiping off his mouth, the man got up and together they ran across the buildings, scaling them while holding hands when they needed to blink, all to make sure that Daud still could follow where Corvo was. This felt extremely weird to both of them, but if they never spoke of it, it might as well had never happened, and both had a unspoken agreement about exactly this. It was established as soon as Corvo laid Daud down on the bed. As soon as he let Daud rest.

They eventually found their way out of the Flooded District, both men tired and wet once Corvo opened up the door to the hidden apartment over The Hounds Pit Pub. There he met Cecelia trying to open a door, jumping at the sight of him. And looking relieved for a moment, until the man behind him entered, leaning against the wall by Corvo's side, a little bit behind him too. She was quiet, looking scared...

"... That is..."

"Daud, yes... He'll pay his debts." Daud simply took a few breathers while he rested up against the wall, looking to Cecelia as she started to tell Corvo what had happened. He listened too, not knowing much about the situation. He found himself sighing heavily at the words uttered. With Cecelia done explaining, Daud dragged himself off the wall, and went up the stairs, Corvo following suit, after nodding a simple goodbye to the young woman.

They went out after a bit of a breather, And when looking around, Corvo noted the contraption on the roof of the workshop. Before he put on his mask, Daud caught that said place was new, and it was something worth checking out..

"Head up there first?"

Corvo nodded, took Daud's hand in his, and they blinked when the Tallboy wasn't too near, and found their way to the contraption. As well, got to see how things fared down at the back of the Pub. They wanted something in there, so it was worth checking out. But in a twist of things, Corvo went to the Tower of some sort, and knocked on the door, Daud following. "Callista, it's Corvo."

A woman opened up the door, smiling from ear to ear, until she saw the man standing by the Lord Protector. Corvo said the same as he did to Cecelia, and Callista explained a few things to the men. Daud stood listening, finding this situation very usual. Corvo should had expected this.

Corvo left to talk to Piero and Sokolov, leaving Daud up on the roof to scout. He was tired of following Corvo around like a puppy, and Sokolov was honestly the last man he wanted to see at the moment. So he sat up on the roof, far up, in fact, having blinked there himself. Just in case that Sokolov would go out.

He just casually spit out some black sludge, the taste of it still lingering in his mouth, and had done all the time, even though he was gaining back his energy due to the elixirs. Having brought with him his diary, Daud brought it up actually, and decided to write, the pencil in his pocket a good companion.  
Black sludge dripped onto the page from his nose, but he just wiped it away from both his face and the page. He put down some thoughts, he found himself looking to Corvo wandering up with a Whale Oil tank under his arm, going to plug it in.

He guessed something would happen, so he casually jumped down, managing to catch the fall this time, rolling onto the metal walkway. Corvo was about to activate the contraption, Daud stopping him, though, for a moment. Then, by each others sides, they watched the contraption go off, both shielding their eyes, Daud expertly turning away. Corvo fell back due to the surprise of it, while Daud stood still.

And up came Sokolov and Piero. Daud was quick to disappear, heading off into the Tower, Corvo just seeing the door close as he opened his eyes, and got back to his feet. He frowned, not wanting Daud out of sight. In case he would do something, or kill someone. For they hadn't talked much. Almost nothing. It was simply what needed to be done that was important now.  
But Corvo ended up talking to the two inventors for a little while despite not wanting Daud alone with Callista. And when he entered in, Callista was sitting evading looking at Daud at all, while Daud leaned on the wall by the signal that Samuel put out. He gestured to it, Corvo nodding after understanding that all was well, and Daud set it off.

"I'll be fine, Corvo. I'll find my way out of here. Please, save Emily..."  
Corvo nodded, and saw Samuel come from the place.

Without really thinking about it, Corvo patted Daud's shoulder, and the two left to greet the man. Corvo told the old sailor the short story, how Daud was sick, but not with the plague. That he wouldn't die, not this easily. The man looked confused, but let him on the boat.  
So now, on their way to Kingsparrow Island, Daud found himself just sitting with his head pointed down and arms folded, trying to rest. His diary stuck out of his pocket, so Corvo actually fished it up, Daud noticing, but let Corvo take a look.

A new page. That was quick, Corvo thought.

_And so Corvo found me. He wanted a fight, so I gave it to him, knowing very well he could kill me if he wanted to. I think I wanted to die, and still do. Just not by anyone's hand than his. If he doesn't want to, though, I'm staying alive. I don't deserve anything else.  
He asked me, after reading my journal, to come with me. Ordered me, would be a better set of words. Said I wasn't allowed to die by my own hand, nor anyone elses. It's a fair deal, and helping the Empress, after he told me how things were in a short manner, it's better than running. That would surely kill me.

I'll get what rest I can when we move. It's getting better, but I'm tired. Hope I'm allowed sleep._

Corvo sighed, looking up from the book to Daud. He slipped the journal back in his pocket, seeing that he was supposedly bleeding from his nose at the same time. So he patted Daud's cheek with this left hand, and found out that the man was either asleep, or unconscious, for he leaned into Corvo, heavily too once he was moved just a little.

... Just looking annoyed, avoiding Samuel's looks, who was actually one of understanding, Corvo let Daud rest with his cheek on his shoulder.

"So sorry there's not more space in the boat, Corvo." He said, and in his usual fashion, he sounded as sorry as he was. Corvo knew this all too well by now.

Corvo just grumbled, hoping the trip wasn't long.


	5. Kingsparrow Island

Heavy eyes blinked open, and Daud found himself resting comfortably against what looked like it was a certain someones coat. He also felt a hand on his shoulder, and after letting his brain register that he was awake, he looked up, just as the boat bumped against the edge of the docks that Samuel parked by to let Corvo and Daud off.  
He lifted his head quickly, seeing that his position had been a bit too near to the Lord Protector, as they nearly butted heads when Daud lifted his head up. Though, the Lord Protector moved away just in time.

With Daud awake, Corvo was happy enough, and patted Samuel's shoulder a bit, having spoken a bit to him after all that happened. Where Samuel had given Corvo some thoughts of the way he handled things, and how he was happy with how things had ended up. He looked pretty at ease, trusting Corvo with getting Emily, and this, Daud actually noticed.

Wiping some black sludge from his nose and mouth, the man swallowed down what was irritating his throat hard and left the boat, with Corvo and Samuel speaking a few last words before Samuel would ultimately leave to lay low until things had calmed down. Daud leaned over the map that laid very conveniently there, looking over the layout. He then looked up to what he could see from behind the rocks, frowning deeply. This would be a long track, and looking at the elixir's planted right beside the map, he knew there were a lot of guards there. 

He then went ahead to get up on one of the rocks, knowing all too well that he would have to lay low for most of the time spent here. He heaved himself up, grunting low as he did, for he knew just from a gut feeling that the guards were nowhere close, so he could make some sound if he wanted to.  
He was quickly joined by Corvo, who had taken both elixir's as he went. One of them he pushed at Daud's right hand, sitting by his right side, crouched down just like Daud. Daud looked to it, and after a small pause, he ended up taking it, popping it open and drinking it down.  
Corvo sighed a bit. "I'm thinking we check out where that pipe goes." Corvo said, scouting as he spoke. 

"You lead, Attano." Daud muttered, taking a breather from drinking.

"... Tell me." Corvo started, as he counted guards. "How are you, Daud? What are your thoughts about everything considering your condition?"

Daud kept quiet for a little while, sighing.

"All I know is that I'm not fit to fight. And use of my powers will only make things worse for me. So I'll keep with you, if you don't mind." Daud said, Corvo only sighing after spending a few seconds looking to Daud.

"You ready then?"

"Let's get this over with."

With this the men held hands again, and Corvo turned his attention to Daud. Who snapped his fingers at Corvo to gain his attention, and gestured to Corvo about a plan he had to take down the watchtower. With a crooked brow and a mildly surprised face, Corvo nodded, and casually jumped up, blinking up to the length he could reach, and flung Daud as best as he could so that he ended up on the railing, holding on like it was nothing, and got up on there, taking out the Whale Oil in it. He sat back against the railing for a moment, breathing in heavily, before he gestured to Corvo, telling him to get ready.  
And with this, Daud got up on the railing, and dropped down, Corvo quickly blinking after a nod and catching Daud bridal style in midair, ending up landing a bit clumsily due to the added weight, but kept both of them relatively injury free. Daud was quick to get out of Corvo's arms and Corvo was quick to let him, both of them finding it easy enough to find their way to the opened pipe, blinking most of the way there, all while holding hands. It was still weird for both of them to do it like this, but Daud and Corvo both managed to adjust well, landing when they needed to, and Corvo made sure to not stationed them too far up, so that the fall would require a roll to not get too injuries from.

Listening as they ventured into the pipe, Corvo stopped, listening better. Daud already could tell that there was a guard up there, so they were careful getting up. Due to not needing to blink, they went in separate, Corvo heading in first, and taking care of the guard, Daud just following, and taking the body to hide it. He was careful as he did.

Then he stood waiting against a wall, watching Corvo look around, and slipping some coins in his pocket, was nothing wrong with that.

Corvo returned to him after a little while. "Both Wall of Light's are down now, and there's no exit. So we got to go where we came from. Daud just nodded, already on his way out again, and sat waiting a second for Corvo to get there, and once he did, they held hands again, Corvo blinking so that they both ended up under the platform on the left side, avoiding the Arc Pylon by doing so. From there, They counted people, Corvo watching their movements for a while, and explained it very quietly to Daud. They laid a very well put out plan together, Daud very good at this, not surprising Corvo at all.

So now they went up from the side, each man to their own for now. Corvo started the ambush, by stopping time for a while, Daud using Corvo's crossbow to sleepdart those Corvo wasn't in the progress of choking out.  
Once time resumed, the men fell to the ground, and the two proceeded to scoop them up, and hide them.  
Once that was done, they went the inner part of the island, leading to the lighthouse itself.

Quickly they made their way up high, Corvo making sure that Daud was with him the entire time. It was to avoid being seen, and even more important, avoid having to confront more guards than they needed to. So they quickly made their way to where they saw the Wall of Light was being powered from, Corvo spending some time surveying how the guards moved around them, and bided his time. Due to the closeness of everything in the corridors and rooms, he figured, together with Daud, that the best course of action was to go in alone, and spend what mana he had if he had to. This, because looking to the Tower, it seemed like there wouldn't be a lot of blinking on the way up there.

Patting Daud's shoulder and pointing to the side of his mouth, Corvo left to take care of things, leaving Daud there to wipe off some sludge from his mouth, looking to it for a little while. Then swallowing hard again.

Corvo took care of things easily, since he knew how the guards usually moved. He hid the bodies, picked up what he could find of useful things, and in a flash, the Wall of Light was shut down. Daud was watching the courtyard while he waited, and did see the Wall of Light go off, smirking a bit at the reactions from the guards. All muttering that those things didn't last long enough, hah, they had no idea.  
Corvo joined Daud up on the roof, carrying a guard over his shoulder while he left up there, before heading to Daud.  
Having watched how the guards moved down there, Daud waited a bit, before he gave the signal to move. The two men, hand in hand, then slipped past the guards, keeping their ears out as they moved up to reach the elevator. They passed the Arc Pylon there easily, keeping to high places.  
But one blink went a little bit wrong, and Corvo was nearly about to get zapped, before Daud quickly pulled Corvo hard to him, the man ending up knocking Daud over, and both of them lying there, Corvo in Daud's arms, and said assassin holding around Corvo still, one hand cupping Corvo's head to him, keeping him his head in his chest.  
Clearing his throat, the Lord Protector got up quickly after Daud had released him. Daud got up too, and they were back to business, moving along like nothing had happened.

Both of the two of them guessed that the elevator door was locked, so they went up ahead to get the key from a guard. Daud was the one to choke him out this time, while Corvo just took the key from him.  
Daud just let the guard drop down, not bothering to move him by now. Corvo agreed, for he placed a palm on Daud's shoulder, gesturing with his head that they should move on. So they did, Daud sitting down against the elevator's wall when they ascended up to the Tower, taking a breather. Corvo just stood there, watching the island underneath him, furrowed eyes.

They kept quiet, Corvo managing to take a look to the other, though, and how violently he was coughing, to just get it over with.

"... Can you control what you use of the bonecharm's power?" Corvo asked while Daud recovered form the coughing. He got a shake of the had as a reply. "Trust me, I'm trying. I failed when you were nearly zapped."

... Corvo looked up, seeing that they were nearly there. So with this, he simply kept quiet, and offered a hand out to Daud to get up with. He took it, and they were heading out of the place. Taking out each guard they met on their way without being seen, they expertly moved along the platforms, finally reaching the end of the journey. But on their way up the stairs, Corvo first and Daud following a few steps under him, Corvo stopped, holding out a hand in front of Daud. Havelock started muttering to himself about all this, as if talking to someone.

Daud lightly pushed at Corvo, wordlessly telling him to go alone.  
So Corvo did so, Daud following and keeping himself hidden until the two of them was done talking. And when Corvo reached for the key, Havelock pulled a fast one and attacked Corvo, who was quick to punch him away from him, to get out of his reach.   
They fought until Havelock laid on the ground, Corvo managing to choke him out without the use of his powers.

Daud peeked his head out, seeing the Lord Protector looking to him, having looked for him. He nodded, and looked down to the key in his hand. Then waved Daud over.

Daud stayed by the table, and straightened his back, trying to look more presentable. Then Corvo unlocked the door, and a young Empress sprang out, throwing herself in Corvo's arms, her own thin arms wrapping around his neck.

Daud dreaded the next few moments.


	6. "Just Sleep, Daud."

Black.

It was all the arm extended to Emily was, along with what looked like rock pinned into the man's hand. With a tattoo piercing through, making sure it was seen. Veins showed under the skin. It looked nothing but painful, and horrid.  
The young girl didn't understand anything, it was surely written on her face. She looked up to Daud's pale face, eyes following along his arm in the progress, up his neck, spotting some black colouring showing there, creeping up his neck, just barely hidden by his collar. She searched for answers in the man's eyes, looking utterly confused.  
Daud had none for her, and it showed. He sighed heavily, and by forgetting to swallow, the man coughed a bit, standing too far from both Corvo and Emily for any sludge hitting them though, luckily. Emily was hiding behind Corvo too, so it helped. The sludge dripped from his mouth even as he wiped it off, and then more came dripping from his nose. He gave up trying to wipe it off, as if kept flowing down, dripping to the floor. He stood there, expression serious, focused, yet with this subtle hint of a severe pain he was hiding.

Corvo continued, not too happy about seeing those hard things in the man's hand.  
"... The bonecharm did that, Emily. And I'd like to know more about this." Corvo nodded to Daud, who did a few movements with his hand to see if he could move it still. He then looked to Corvo. "Removing the bonecharm seems to lead to death, and he is needed alive."

"... Are you sure it's not the plague?" Emily looked up to her father, it was the first words she had dared to speak in quite a while. Corvo nodded. "I've seen many Weepers, and none of them were like this."

Daud nodded along, Emily managing to catch that.  
The young girl looked down, then looked up to the former assassin again. Her eyes determined.

"So you're helping Corvo now...?"  
Daud nodded. "Better I am used to something than dead."

"... I want you to live too. So it's ok. Mother wouldn't wanted you dead, not after what was said on the speakers..."

Daud looked to them, eyes slightly unfocused for a moment. Corvo noticed the confusion in his eyes.

"I'll tell you everything later. Now..." Corvo sat down to Emily, smiling as he held out his arms for her. "We should go home, Emily." The young girl took her Lord Protector's hand, and held it as they walked past where Daud was standing, Corvo gesturing with his head to come along to him. So Daud did exactly that, leaving a black handprint on the table, and footsteps covered in sludge. For he was still bleeding. He was dangerously close to having had enough.

After having released one of the escape boats, the three of them was on the river, Daud steering the boat while the two others sat together, watching the river and the rest of Dunwall. Emily had a bit of a sombre look in her eyes, seeing her city like this. It was quiet, sort of dead... And she knew there was more misery everywhere, than what she was seeing. She knew too much for being a little girl. Her childhood had all been taken from her.

Daud had let himself take a glance at her. Unchecked while the man swallowed down sludge and steered the boat, tears crept from his serious, focused eyes, falling unnoticed. They were normal, at least. He only noticed it when he blinked, but blinked a few more times. This was just to happen if it had to. Letting the two other see it wouldn't matter anymore. They already saw him at his weakest, at death's door, pretty much, as he was now.  
So what would a few tears matter? A broken man either? No, didn't matter. Never would.

Corvo noticed. He saw how the tears went from the tired, yet neutral, yet serious face of the assassin. He could see the subtle trembling lip, the slight wrinkles in his eyes, and how he tried so hard to not look towards them. Looking away quickly to not be caught, Corvo felt a sort of heavy feeling in his chest. Yet, one of relief. He tore his attention to the fast approaching Tower.

Daud spoke as he looked to the Tower, steering the boat skilfully. "Where to?"  
"The waterlock. There should be guards there, so they can get it working again."  
Daud frowned a bit, glad his wristbow was loaded. But he took them there, Emily the one to stand up once they were positioned in the middle of the place.

She inhaled deeply, and yelled with all her the power her voice could muster;

"This is Emily Kaldwin, your Empress! I am home, make the waterlock work!"

A few seconds went by, and suddenly two or three helmets and faces showed from the railing, and looked straight down to them. They panicked as they saw that it indeed was Emily, and went ahead to get the waterlock working. A few minutes and the doors behind them closed, and they were ascending.  
Corvo stood there, looking up. Ready to move if he needed to. And due to something in him, he ended up looking to Daud for a moment, seeing the man ready to blink if he needed to. It got Corvo a bit frustrated, but it was understandable. He snapped his finger and got Daud to look to him, Corvo shaking his head a bit and gesturing to Emily. Daud understood the gesture, but stood ready nonetheless.

Soon the guards looked to the two men in the boat together with the Empress, and drew their swords, to then extend the walkway. Emily stepped in front of Corvo, though.

"Corvo's innocent! He didn't kill mother!" She said, and held out her hand in front of the man. "Touch him, and I'll have you all executed!"

The guards frowned deeply, and put their swords back. Somehow, listening to her. She then looked to Daud, seeing as the man just stood up, ready to fight if he needed to, for damn, he was not going to die to some lowly guards. Corvo held a hand out in front of him, and placed it on his shoulder.

"This man is with me, serving a life debt. He'll be spared."

"That is the Knife of Dunwall, Attano! You cannot expect us to not arrest him!"

"He's pardoned!" Emily chipped in quickly. "From now on! So you can't arrest him! Or touch him! He's Corvo's now!"  
Daud stared at Emily wide eyed. He knew what it meant. He only hoped she meant it too, that he was not pardoned for her mothers murder. Only what was said on the wanted posters. He would have to make sure about that later. He was NOT to be pardoned for that.

With the guards pacified, they accompanied the three to the Tower, telling every guard about the news that the Empress was back home. It was eventually broadcasted on the entire messaging system, to the entire city to hear.  
Cheers was heard all over the place, including the Tower.

Later, hidden in the shadows in the throne room, standing far away from anyone, Daud watched the coronation of Emily Kaldwin, as he had no other choice. Emily wore the crown well, a not too happy day for the young girl, but a happy one for the Empire. A good one for both Corvo and Daud too, who both had worked for this. And it was, Daud couldn't deny that, honestly good to see that his work payed off. That he saved an Empress. An Empire. Although, it was nothing he would think long about, for this was the least he could do.  
Corvo was just glad his daughter was safe. That he now could protect her, no matter what. For now, she had the two best fighters in the Isles protecting her, if Daud kept alive, and was as willing to listen as he had been now, if he ever got better.

About that...  
Corvo found himself scouting the room, looking through the crowds, through the nobles and guards men. Looking for Daud.

He found him up against a wall. The little light that was put on him showed that he was bleeding, the man wiping at his nose.  
Corvo couldn't care right now.

Neither could Daud.

At the end of the coronation, when the nobles had left, Corvo found himself approaching the former assassin after putting Emily to bed. He was standing against a wall in a unused room, out of harms way, looking out into nothing, not using much strength at the moment. Having spent an hour looking for the man due to how well he was hidden, Corvo found himself frankly a bit annoyed. He sighed heavily, Daud's eyes focusing as he noticed someone just came into the room. 

He chuckled. "I was heading back. Sorry." His voice was strangled. Corvo just ended up shaking his head a bit. "No, I wanted you out of the way. It's fine."

"But... Don't go to far next time."

"Got it." Daud nodded. Then he just sighed. "Where to?" He dragged himself off the wall, and started to move, making Corvo step aside. Corvo just looked to him for a moment, his eyes slightly worried, yet serious.

"Bed."

"I don't have one, Corvo. Put me to work." He had a point, Corvo frowning deeply, trying to think of whatever bed the man could take in the Tower. If he even wanted Daud in the Tower in the first place...  
He wasn't sure.  
Daud stood waiting, back turned to Corvo, waiting for orders. Then he swayed a bit, catching himself all of sudden on the wall with his right hand. He then just... Leaned on the wall like he was. Head leaning against it even, just for a moment, before he pushed himself off it, and turned to Corvo.

Corvo swallowed hard. Daud's eyes turned unfocused for a moment. Then he was visibly having a hard time focusing at all. He was having a hard time to even stay upright.

"... Put me to work, Attano."

"... And let you ignore the pain and exhaustion...?" Corvo asked, lips thinning, and eyebrows furrowing.

Daud nodded. Corvo frowned deeply.

"Your orders is to go with me, and rest."

"... Bullshit orders." Daud said with a bit of a chuckle. Then he just went ahead to go out of the door, but Corvo blocked it. He just stared at the man now right in front of him...  
They looked to each other for what felt like forever. Daud just looked in pain, yet serious, Corvo a strangled look on his face. Then, when Corvo was about to move after saying things wordlessly to the other, Daud have had enough.  
His legs gave in on him, and he slowly fell forward. But he was fully conscious, so he watched Corvo just go out of his point of view, understanding he was falling. A moment later, he saw the ends of dark brown hair close to his nose, and felt arms wrapped around him. Corvo caught him.

"The floor is not a bed.." Corvo muttered, and tried to steady Daud, but when it seemed like no matter how hard he tried, Daud couldn't stand on his own, Corvo brought his arm over his shoulder and kept him up, expecting Daud to at least try to walk on the way, and went for his so far chambers, that was being readied. He supposed that a couch could easily be moved in there quickly, for Daud needed that. The armchair wouldn't do. Daud did try his best, and managed somewhat, the man doing anything he could to avoid leaving a trail of black sludge after him.

Oddly enough having avoided being seen by a single soul, Corvo was kind of glad that he and Daud was alone once he went into the chambers. It was a mess in there, but one that would easily be fixed up eventually. Daud had kept quiet all the way there, and was now set down by the desk, leaning against it. But he didn't stay upright for a moment, the man instantly falling to the side, Corvo just letting him.

Corvo sighed heavily, patting that dead looking face of the assassin to get his attention.

"Just sleep, Daud."  
Daud's eyes weren't even focused. He didn't even look to Corvo. He just stared forward, half lidded. With a sort of panic in his chest, Corvo felt for a pulse after buttoning down the man's shirt so he could reach. When he found one, he exhaled, having kept his breath for the moments he thought Daud was dead.

"... Sleep." Corvo said, both hands on Daud's face, holding him up as he looked directly into his eyes, trying to get some reaction.  
It was the last words Daud registered, before he lost consciousness.


	7. "Do You Want to Die?"

Days had passed since Emily took the throne.

With a heavy head due to a raging headache, Corvo man settled the pocket watch down onto his nightstand, his eyes creeping unnoticed over to the man lying on the couch, further into the room. He somehow wished he was him at the moment, being able to be gone for three days like this, although perhaps in a different way, for Daud looked far from peaceful. It was no surprises there, for it was highly unlikely Daud even thought for a moment as he was travelling with him, and in the Tower, that he could trust Corvo's words. Not after that fight, not after Corvo had hovered over him for a good while as he kept him down, debating and arguing with himself if he should kill the man under him or not. If he was even himself then. Daud didn't speak, he didn't emote, nothing. He just sneered in pain occasionally.

Tearing his attention and train of thoughts from Daud, Corvo continued on his boots, trying to get them off him, as they stuck to him due to water and sweat. The rainy season was never kind in Dunwall, and when you were soaked, it was hard to get your clothing off. Though, the boots went off, landing on the floor with a solid thud, that could might as well wake Daud, so Corvo's attention went to him again, eyes resting on his face.  
He caught himself looking a bit too long, and in the end, he just slipped off the rest of his clothing, and got under his duvet, to sleep for the few hours he had left of the night. He had been watching over Emily for most of the night, making sure to take a tour of the Tower as well, checking how the repairs were going. It all seemed to go fine, and nothing appeared to be too messy.  
Else from the body in the couch, just meters away from him...

Corvo sighed heavily, shaking his head at the fact his thoughts wandered so easily over to Daud. Must be all the questions he had for him...  
The Lord Protector closed his eyes, sighing deeply to let himself relax. A mere hour or so passed, the Lord Protector nearly asleep, before a loud thud of some sort was heard in the room, followed by violently coughing. He sat up quickly, and saw a figure on all fours in on the middle of the floor. He was leaning over what looked like nothing but black sludge, a whole puddle of it.

Without a single word the Lord Protector threw himself out of bed quickly, and went directly to the man, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Daud. Hey-." Corvo muttered calmly, very much so as well. Daud's head snapped up, glaring at Corvo for a good moment, his eyes panic struck, and his breathing erratic. Then a hand suddenly pushed at Corvo very strongly, and Daud ended up in another coughing fit, heaving for breath, his entire body shaking with every cough. Recovering from being pushed, in a way thrown across the room, Corvo quickly got to his feet and went up to Daud again, took a hold of his chest, and threw him down to his side, not caring to be careful at the moment. Neither if it would work to help Daud breathe.

But it did, a few coughs, and Daud stopped, too perplexed to even know what had happened before a few moments of peace from the coughing had passed. He looked up to Corvo, who moved to sit in front of Daud on the floor.

"You... Corvo..." His voice, as always, was strangled. He followed Corvo's movements, staring wide eyed.

"Yes... You're welcome, Daud..." Corvo sat as he sat back, and gestured to him, and to his position. Which Daud got out of quickly, sitting up. He ended up taking more deep breaths.

"... Thank you." He muttered. "How long was I out...?"

"A long time, Daud." Corvo spoke clearly, and patted Daud's cheek for a moment, to gain his attention. He did eventually, after what seemed to be a few moments of thought from Daud.

"You used your powers too. You threw yourself a few meters out of the couch, and pushed me into the wall..." Corvo reported, to let Daud know what just happened, in case he was completely confused. For Void, he looked it. Or was it something else? Corvo could frankly not tell, he didn't know the man well enough.

Daud didn't reply. His eyes wandered off Corvo.

"... Corvo... Have you coughed up blood?"

"No. I'm not affected so far, Daud."

Daud nodded a few times. Then held his head in his hand, rubbing at his temple. He kept silent.  
Something took a hold of the man. He sunk down, like the world sunk along with him, sighing heavily to try to keep himself afloat from sinking down to the bottom. He was staring at his gloves.

Corvo watched this, maybe understanding, maybe not. Despite this, he stayed as he were, and ended up putting a hand onto Daud's shoulder, to try to snap him out of it. And it worked, Daud looking to the hand for a good while, something about him softening, managing to not completely lose himself, as it seemed, his expression turning back to normal, only with more furrowed brows than normal.  
He nodded to Corvo, and got to his feet, doing so while suppressing the will to use his powers. His body was a heavy thing to heave up at the moment, but Daud didn't care. He then, to test out something he had noticed a while ago, went over to the fireplace. There, he sat down, holding out a hand to the embers that was left, though still with a few flickers of flame. Corvo was already on his feet while Daud moved, and on his way back to bed. For he didn't feel like talking at the moment. Maybe later. So he sat on the edge of the bed, watching Daud for a bit.

"You got your orders, Daud. Rest. There is no need to tend to the fire."

Daud didn't reply. In fact, he just went against orders, started to tend to the fire, and get it back alive, using some matches and wood discarded from the renovations and remodelling of the room, all while moving with a little more vigour. Corvo got the gist of it, wondering if having some work got the man a bit more energised.  
But he was wrong...  
As the fire flared up, Daud sat down in front of the fireplace, his shoulders that was tensed worse than a bowstring relaxed a bit.  
He breathed out, coughing a few times, but not seeming to mind too much, but ended up looking to his gloves for a good while.

"Daud?" Corvo looked wondering at him, after giving him some time. Even more so when said man laid to his side, Corvo's eyes widening, even..

"I'm following orders." He muttered, sighing deeply. He propped an arm under his head, ready to sleep. 

"... Why in front of the fireplace...?"

"It's warm." Daud's voice was still damaged, but sounded more neutral. Less hostile. It made Corvo show a very weak smile, although he had no idea why. It even got him up, the man taking a hold of the couch, and pushed it over to the fireplace, Daud sitting up and turning to look at him as he did, curious. And in a sense, alarmed.

"Then rest more comfortably. And..." Corvo went off to his bed, and returned with the second duvet he had lying on the bed. "Take this." ... Daud wanted to say no, but in a sense, he knew he couldn't. So, he got up, got into the couch after taking the duvet, and threw it over him, finding himself comfortable for the first time since his childhood.  
"Now follow orders for once." Corvo said, a bit of a lighter tone in his voice, and went back to bed. Daud just grunted in reply, and laid there for a while, warming up. It was very much needed, for he was as cold as a morning at sea.

He drifted off to sleep, not even realising it, nor thinking much about it. The only problem?  
Was that he slept for a long time. Over a day, until he stirred awake, by the noise of the people working in the room beside the Lord Protectors.

Emily was among them, watching and occasionally running back and forth in the room, wanting to help, but knowing she wasn't allowed. Still, Corvo overlooked a few nails being moved right by the workers, who were acting very proper around the Young Empress. Better so, as well.

Daud only saw a little from his position, and proceeded to move his arm under the duvet, as it had been hanging over the edge of the cough. The fireplace was still in full flame, Corvo having tended to it, while making sure Daud was still alive at some points in the day.  
Slipping out of his "bed", Daud leaned down, looking for any signs of Corvo or Emily, for he did hear them in there. He saw a girl run past, Emily, surely, who actually took notice of Daud's head poking out in view in the fireplace, and locked eyes with him. A lock Daud quickly broke.

"Corvo, I think he's awake..." Emily said, still looking to the fireplace.

The workers curiously looked to the girl, wondering what in the Void she was talking about... But didn't care to ask.  
Corvo was quick to wave to Emily, taking her out of the room, and heading straight to his own. There, he found Daud standing outside of it, waiting, standing as if he was guarding something. He didn't look any better, but at least, he wasn't coughing.  
"Daud, you have to go and clean up, then, you have to go and get food." Emily said, her voice sounding like it did when she ordered people.

With a strained expression, the man nodded. Corvo just watched this. "After this, come talk to me."

"Yes, talk to Corvo!"

The man nodded again, and asked with his hands where to go. Corvo pointed him to it, and went ahead with today's business. For it was very early in the morning, before court, so now it was to move on to it.

Daud spent a long time on his tasks, so soon after dinner (for the Lord Protector and Emily) he stood before Corvo's offices, entering after a knock or two. He found the Lord Protector idling with papers in his hands, his legs on his desk, just looking relaxed, oddly enough. 'Must be nice to be home'; Daud thought to himself.

A pause followed when Corvo saw who it was, staring for a while as he sat up more proper. The man was spotless, as if nothing had happened. His clothing spotless, even.

"... Sit, Daud." Corvo said, his face mirroring the mild shock he had.

"... You... Managed to wash that out?"

Daud just looked at him, as if Corvo just asked a weird question.  
"Why is it important, Corvo?"

Clearing his throat, Corvo just waved his hand in dismissal, telling Daud wordlessly to forget it.

"Well. I said I would tell you everything later, so, now is the time. Please listen well."

And thus, Corvo told Daud everything that had happened. Corvo kept it brief, keeping the details out unless Daud asked to know. But, he didn't. He wordlessly listened, intently too, showing a real interest in everything.

"... And now, we're here."

"... You found different means of dealing with this. It's commendable, Corvo." Daud commented, his breathing steady due to sheer will. "... Means, I will follow."

Corvo nodded wordlessly, looking at Daud for a while. Then, he moved a bit to the side, patting Daud's journal, to let the owner know it was there. "This... The words are true, no?"

"Yes."

"Is there things you left out?"

"Yes." Daud's voice sounded strangled, as it always did since they had met again.

"The men with the strongest bond to me died first. Their skin didn't even have time to develop the black colouration before they fell."  
Daud paused. Corvo was listening, intently.

"The bonecharm is causing a lot of pain, which is hard to describe. I've never felt anything like it, the same said the men. And, I have a lapse in memory, from after you approached, and drew your sword. Then, a hole in my memory from when we were on the bed, but I remember thinking you could just read the journal. That it wouldn't matter anyway."

"... You used your powers to a fault. It must had been too much for you. Using these powers is a great mental strain, I've felt that myself several times." Corvo muttered. He had one question, he didn't know if Daud would react too well if Corvo asked it. So, he slid the journal to Daud.

"If you need a new one, just ask. I saw that you were about to fill it." Corvo said, feeling like their talk was done.   
But one more thing came to mind as Daud stood up, the man supporting himself on the desk, leaving no hand prints at least.

"... Do you want to die, Daud?" Corvo asked, rather directly.

...  
The assassin stopped his movements, and just stared down onto the hand supporting him. His eyes were vacant, void of emotion.

"I can't deny it. But my life is in your hands- I have no right to it anymore."

"... Why?" Corvo felt a sense of terror in his heart, for the sincerity of Daud's words. How he truly meant them.

Daud sighed, and held a hand in front of his face. His gloves smelled good, but the smell only made him sick.  
"You read the journal. It should be enough."

Corvo kept quiet still, his expression sort of strained, it was honestly hard to tell exactly what the Lord Protector was thinking about this. Or how he felt. Though, he looked away, thinking back to what he read in the journal.

"... Allow me to rest, Corvo, and I will be useful to you soon enough. I am recovering, but it will take time."

Corvo got up, and moved to the side of the man, slowly extending a hand to him. Still hunched over and holding himself up with both arms, Daud only moved his head to look up to it, to Corvo, slightly alarmed. The Lord Protector looked sort of wide eyed when Daud let him get so close, his rough hand still felt the stubble on the assassins cheeks as he cupped it in his hand.   
Corvo looked him over, finding some more visible veins here and there. Checked how his skin tone looked, simply assessing how the man was faring.

"... You didn't eat, did you?"

"No."

"Food is important to recovery, you know."

"I vomit it up."

"You've rested a bit now, so try again."

"... Fine." Daud muttered, removing Corvo's hand off him with a gentle tug. His grip was firm, but not overly so, so Corvo didn't mind.

"I will ask the servants to bring some here, then. Until I feel I can trust you, you stay by my side. Understood?"

Daud nodded, now standing upright, not needing to support himself for now.

"Now undress." Corvo said, and moved to his seat again.

"-Excuse me?" Daud asked QUICKLY.

Pulling up some pencils and some paper, Corvo slid it over to Daud, first now starting to realise that he should had continued his sentence, a weak red colouring of embarrassment on his cheeks. He cleared his throat, patting the paper with an outstretched hand.  
"Draw how far it's gotten along your body, and keep a record of it when needed. Do that while I go get the servant..."

Quietly Daud took the paper and pencil, and looked around a bit. Corvo was already on his way out, and pointed to a mirror, that he had in the newly constructed, small storage room, with still open walls.  
With a nod, Daud set down and drew how things were, not being too quick to add details and such. He was done very quickly, and slipped the paper in his journal, that he then settled down to write in.

Soon the servant came with the food, and the man tried eating. It went well.  
Evening came, and he found himself in the couch again, reigniting the flames. Then, he rested. Sleep didn't come to him tonight, but he didn't mind.


	8. Dresses

It was an early morning in the Tower, most of it's residents either sleeping, or finding the mere thought of getting out of bed awful. All but two, two who had stayed up all night, fighting outside on the grounds. 

Weeks had passed since Emily's coronation, which had meant weeks of rest for both the Lord Protector and the Knife of Dunwall. The latter had become somewhat of a myth between the servants and guards in the short amount of time he had spent there, everyone knowing he was present, yet believing him a ghost, for he was so rarely seen, he might as well be one. Proud servants would speak of seeing him asleep, bundled up in a duvet, his face just almost showing.  
It was most that they could boast about.

For Daud, he did sleep a lot in the past weeks, the man still doing so, which often left him awake in the odd hours of the night. Due to a shortage of work, this was fine until now, now that he was starting to feel more like himself again. The cough had yet to lessen it's hold on him, but it was a minor problem now.

Which had led to this fight, the Lord Protector wanting justice for the hours of sleep he lost, due to Daud waking him when leaving the room. As well, Daud was more than willing to have a good fight again, although he was not used to limiting himself...

"You're too careful, Attano."

"And you---!" Corvo narrowly avoided Daud's sword, the swing of it sounding in Corvo's ears. "--Too brutal!" He finished, swiping at Daud to get him to back off, which he did, after blocking the swing, the sharp sound of it ringing in Daud's ears, enough to make him grimace ever so slightly.

"I told you to watch your strength...!" Corvo looked as annoyed as he sounded.

The former assassin only looked to his sword for a moment, then swung it skilfully around in his hand, a bit of a trick he tended to do when he was idle.  
"Trying to help it, but it's hard. Feels too good to fight again."

"Hah- I've noticed." Corvo stood more straight as he put his sword under his arm, starting to massage his sword hand, rather amateur-ishly.

As Corvo did this, Daud slipped his sword into it's place too, looking up to the sky for a little while, the black discolouring on his neck showing due to the movement.  
"Looks to be early morning. The servants will be up soon."

"We had best to go, then. Lead the way, Daud."

For the rest of the day, Daud spent it as he usually did, standing out of the way by Corvo's side, constantly in view. Even after growing sort of used to this, it still annoyed Daud to the core that he had to stand around like a puppy. It was nothing he found a reason to complain about, considering that he still needed the rest this gave. Work for him was after all hard work, with much movements and other things.  
And, sometimes in the day, he would have a chance to try his hand at regulating the bonecharms power, his strength getting more and more attuned for each time he tried it. He still used to too much of it, he felt it, so there was still work ahead.

He felt it, and tasted it too. The black sludge, there was always a aftertaste of it, even if he hadn't bled for a little while, nor coughed up any sludge. Always this nauseating taste of rotting flesh. And the feeling of when he was overextending himself had become familiar to him too, the man finding a way to soothe the pain, so he could finally feel if it was worse or not.  
Easily said, things were looking up, and he was not as close to death as all those weeks ago. Soon been three months.

Daud peered over the Empress, not often allowing himself to look to her, but the few times he did, he did so without realising it before it was too late.

As usual, Emily noticed him, and locked eyes. She looked a bit to the side, before walking up to him, as she usually did.

"What do _you_ think?"

"... About what?" Daud kept his eyes on her.

"The dress, silly!"

"... It looks pretty." Daud's answer was flat, sort of hastily spoken. He knew he didn't really have a reason to answer her, but... He did so anyway.

"But it's not even done..." Emily wasn't sure she believed Daud was sincere, and wanted to test him a bit with that question. He was, but he was piss poor in showing it.  
The tailor looked a bit impatient, eyes locked onto Daud, who blatantly ignored him.

"It has potential to become more pretty then." Daud tilted his head a bit as he spoke, a bit invested.  
Emily stood in silence for a little while, the words rather deep. Even Corvo looked up from his reports.

Then, she nodded a bit, a half sort of smile on her face. And with renewed faith in the dress, she went back to the tailor.

Daud sighed very heavily once she left him alone, the man cursing himself silently for gaining her attention. Corvo however, only watched Daud for a while in the corner of his eye, a neutral expression on his face, though a bit wondering. But his eyes wandered back to his hand, idly massaging it for a while, finding it weird that he had to be like this after blocking Daud so many times...  
Daud noticed, Corvo took his eyes off him when he caught said man, but he didn't say anything about it, simply wandering over by the wall, and ending up looking out of a window. And there he stood, eventually opening the window, being careful as he did to not break it accidentally due to using too much force in pulling it up.

Corvo sat a bit more comfortably in his chair, watching the tailor fuss over the seams, luckily only a few left. He had been working for half an hour, and it was more than enough time spent, honestly. But his eyes trailed over to Daud, and stayed on him for a while. From what Corvo had noticed about Daud the last months, the Lord Protector's heart had started to settle around him. He was no longer overly cautious around him, and he found himself trusting Daud more and more for every day that went by.

By now it was maybe time to put him to work. A workaholic would never settle like this, Corvo started to feel it as well. The pull of work, of getting back into things, it was strong, and had to be even stronger for Daud, considering three months ago, such a thing as work was so far from reach from him as possible.

So, time to let him be alone. Only the guards could do something then.  
But Corvo figured it wouldn't be necessary.

He sighed a bit, glad the tailor finally finished.  
Emily went off with a new dress on her, running to her room before hand. Corvo hauled himself from his seat, Daud looked to him and following him, going up to his side as both of them left the room, Daud closing the door after them. A warm glow painted the halls of the Tower, Emily glowing orange as she ran past the tall windows, leaving a large shadow on the doors and walls.

"I will find work for you tomorrow morning."

"I suppose I will find my residence at Coldridge, then? As planned?" Daud asked flatly.

"... No. Not anymore. There's an unused room I got planned for you here. As well, your work will require you to be close at all times."

The assassin raised a brow. But said nothing as they were at Emily's quarters now, the girl looking over her dress already, and testing it out, seeing if she could use it for fighting. Daud only saw a little of it, as he stood waiting outside of the door, closing it behind Corvo, as usual.  
He stood for a little while, until Callista came wandering towards him, looking oddly puzzled at seeing the Knife of Dunwall just standing around. But she said nothing, and after a unsure look at the man, she went inside, Corvo coming out a few moments later.  
He patted Daud's shoulder and the two headed on their way back to Corvo's offices, the hand on Daud's shoulder lingering for a little while before sliding off, the man not minding.

"This bores you to no end this, doesn't it?"

Daud nodded. "I don't think I want to sleep away the days anymore, though."

"You were impossible to wake, so good." Corvo had a very weak smile on his face.

"Now- what sort of work are you giving me?" Daud asked, finally, the question been digging at his mind for a while. Corvo shrugged weakly, scoffing for a moment. "You'll work as a spy for the throne. What this includes we'll have to take as we go, but I suppose you like that?"

Daud nodded quietly. Today had been the most he had spoken in the last three months, a fact he didn't think too much about.

"Your uniform is sewn too, it's in fact left for you in my room."

"..." Corvo could practically FEEL Daud's stare digging into him. It was enough that he got one set of new clothing, more than enough, in fact.

"It is protocol."

"Hrmp." A grumpy frown came to the man's face, brows furrowing terribly.

"Grumble in your sleep, Daud." With a bit of a smirk, Corvo patted his shoulder lightly, and went into his quarters, Daud following after him with his eyes digging at him still. But he took his eyes off him once the door was closed, and Daud went back to his little piece of the room, settling down into the couch, and picked up his journal, doing so as a habit for the last three months whenever he had been awake long enough for something to happen.

Corvo went back to work, the two men silently writing their own things at their own places, not minding the others company, as both were still, else from the occasional clink from Corvo's fountain pen.

Eventually Corvo rested back in his chair, and he put away the pen, stretching his entire body well, and doing so a bit too much with his hand. From Daud's perspective it looked like he was trying very hard to chase a relief with his movements, wondering if he was in pain. Or something had happened to the hand. He watched Corvo massage it, a sense of annoyance pulling at him at how the man did it. Once Corvo got up from his seat and started to train his grip and hand movements with his sword, Daud put his journal and all away, and went up to him, Corvo looking to him curiously, wondering if he should get ready to block an eventual attack. But all that happened was Daud putting a hand on Corvo's sword, activating the mechanism in his sword, so that he ended up with only the handle.

"How is the pain?"

"... Hrmp." Corvo guessed Daud would notice, but hoped he wouldn't care. "Dull, stinging sort. Also a bit numb."

"Nerves, then. Sit down, and give me your arm." Daud gestured to the bed with a hand as he spoke. His left hand.

With rather curious eyes, Corvo just stood there, looking for an answer in Daud. And he got one, Daud just putting a hand on Corvo's chest, pushing him very lightly. "Sit."

... Not really sure why, Corvo obliged, ending up on the edge of his bed. Daud joined him, and held out his hands for Corvo to lie down his arm in. Now, with Corvo's arm in his hands, Daud started to work on relieving the pain and such, pressing and massaging rather gently, sometimes putting a bit too much pressure, but noticing quickly. Very much so as well, Corvo didn't even have the time to grimace in pain. He was very focused as well, and his touch light, yet firm. It felt like Daud had done this a few times before, and Corvo had a feeling this was something he tended to do to himself quite so often, for it would happen quickly if you slipped up while fighting, and the force on your wrist was too great.

"... It's only getting worse." Corvo muttered, finding it uncomfortable how close they were in the very limited bed. Despite sleeping in the same room, despite being so close usually, they were never within touching distance usually.  
Things started to loosen up in Corvo's arm, the pain lessening, at least, after a little while, Daud's hands cold, but warming up due to Corvo's arm. 

"... Hope you're watching, Attano, so you can do this yourself."  
A sigh escaped the Lord Protector. "I'd rather watch you a few more times to learn it properly."

Tilting his head in acceptance, Daud ended up nodding. "As you wish."  
Eventually finishing, Daud just lifted Corvo's arm a bit, telling him to take it back, which the man gladly did. He moved it a bit, looking a little less troubled.

"Thank you." Corvo muttered as Daud got up, the man moving back to his couch.

"Hrmp." For the first time since they first met again, after _that_ day, Corvo saw the faintest, and weakest hint of a smile on the former assassins face. And it honestly took him off guard, to the point he just emptily watched the man for a few moments, before he tore his eyes away. And back to his work, the man moving back to his desk, and buried himself in it. Where he fell asleep. While he did so, Daud had gotten up, and stood with his own sword, after having started a fire. But quickly he took a break, only for one thing, and that was to scoop up the Lord Protector from the desk, not even caring if he were to wake up, and took him to bed, spending as little of his powers as he could muster. When Corvo laid on the bed, blinking his eyes open due to the movements of it all, the first sight that met Corvo was Daud just having tucked him in, a black stripe running from his nose, not dripping, though.

"Daud, you're..."

"I know."

Corvo, hurriedly moved to look at his desk, then to the man again. "And you..."

"You're welcome."

"... Why?"

"Nobody likes being cold..." Daud muttered, looking away as he spoke, just avoiding Corvo's eyes.

... Scoffing as if a chuckling, Corvo smiled a bit more genuinely. "Well, thank you. I never thought you'd do that sort of thing for me."

"...I owe you a life debt, Attano. IT's that simple."

A look of realisation, yet intrigue, yet confusion, well, a very mixed pot of expressions found it's way to Corvo's face, and he just looked up at Daud, all while sitting up.

Daud just cleared his throat, avoiding that look, for Daud could tell he just gave the Lord Protector a lot to think about... "Goodnight." And thus, he left the Lord Protector's side hurriedly, and settled into the couch again, this time to sleep. The journal was just dropped onto the floor for it laid on the duvet the man pulled up, together with the pencil, that he still had, after those three months.

Corvo laid down himself, eyes wandering a bit from one place to the other, as he digested what the assassin had just told him.

But sleep overcame him, as well did it for Daud, who nuzzled the towel he had over his pillow to avoid stains, sighing deeply.

He regretted a lot of things from today. Hopefully it wouldn't 'cause too much harm.


	9. "Leave."

Daud stood leaning against the wall in his new room, having just woken up from something that could only be described as an intense bout of pain. It tore him from his sleep, and resulted in a lot of coughing, Daud laying on the floor to stop it, he actually threw himself onto it before the coughing started too, in order to avoid stains everywhere, for now, there was quite the puddle of sludge on the floor, and dripping down from Daud's mouth too, leaving him with a choked up feeling in his throat.

Then it was random. As Daud thought.

Grunting, Daud pushed himself off the wall and made his way to the bathroom he actually shared with Corvo, out of necessity for now. As soon as he was in there, glad he wasn't seen but guessed it to be a certainty, he started to wash himself off, and checked the black rot on his skin, finding it to not have moved even a bit. And this was the first time in a few weeks he checked it, and as these weeks had gone by, the pain had gotten worse. He slipped on his gloves, although he still smelled the sludge on them.  
He left the room, glad that he was there now, and not in Corvo's quarters.

... Finding his mind empty due to a lack of sleep spanning several days, Daud tried to find out what he should spend his morning doing. For sleep was hopeless now.

He found himself wandering the halls for an hour. Looking around, mapping it in his head, a first for him. He wandered aimlessly most of the time, though, and ended up looking out of a window for a few minutes. There he happened to spy a young Emily, climbing what looked to be building supplies and lumber, and jumping from crate to crate.  
He kept his eyes on her for a while, analysing her form and how she moved, finding all too many flaws. And balance issues. She had much work ahead of her if she wanted to get better.

He didn't do anything, guessing there had to be some guards about making sure she was alright. And it was the fact that him going out to her alone, in the middle of the night, would most certainly scare her, so it was best he stayed inside.

He sighed for a moment, looking out to the night sky instead now. But his eyes travelled back to Emily just for a moment, something in his mind working against him, and making him see a young Whaler in Emily's stead. So he ended up staring at her for a while, not realising it was the sleep deprivation that did it, and... In his tiredness, actually thought it was a whaler for a moment. One of them, just training by herself outside, like nothing had happened. 

Then felt some sort of presence around him. Just for a fleeting moment. It had him look around with his eyes mostly, finding Corvo's head just some centimetres away from his own, leaning over his shoulder to look out of the window too. He had a neutral expression on his face, but a small smile slowly crept to his lips when he most likely just caught a glimpse of Daud's face once he was seen. Daud looked surprised, yet sort of angry at the same time, and without a single word the man grabbed Corvo in a such a flash Daud knocked the air out of him, and even more so once he hit the wall behind him, with a force that could break ribs.  
Wide, confused eyes glared at Corvo's and when he registered who it was, in a sense, got his sense of reality back, Daud sneered angrily, and was quick to remove that arm off Corvo's neck.

"... Don't do that again, Attano." He growled, his anger calming down, and he was very quick to turn back to see if his whaler was still there, but now, it was only Emily. Daud's lip thinned, Corvo noticing, but not taking it to heart.

"I'll let you hear me next time." Having a bit of a chuckle in his voice, Corvo did understand Daud's warning, so he nodded his head a bit to the side, staying as he was for now. But suddenly Daud got into a coughing fit again, Corvo quick to suddenly wrap his arms around Corvo and pulled him up into his chest, to muffle it. It was honestly the only reason.

After a few moment of silence after Daud's fit stopped, Corvo found himself surprised that Daud just stayed there, with his forehead leaning against Corvo's chest, silent. Trying to breathe.

"What do you think of her form?" He asked, letting Daud go a bit, only to let a hand rest on his shoulder instead, to make this position not too awkward...

Daud lifted up his head, finally and moved away, and was about to push Corvo away too, but he stopped mid-action, and just looked to his gloves for a moment. Then to Corvo's shirt, it was heavily stained... Then he looked back to his hands. ... His hands clenched into fists, Corvo could swear he was going to get punched, but instead, Daud only stared at them even when they were clenched.  
Suddenly the man turned around so quickly Corvo jumped, and saw him stare out of the window again, almost like he was worried.  
This was when Daud was completely grounded from his sleep deprived state, and his heart sank. Not visibly so...

"She has a lot to learn." He finally muttered after taking a moment to collect himself. His voice was broken worse than it had been for a while.

Corvo nodded absentmindedly with a little bit of a acknowledging look on his face. When Daud seemed relaxed enough, Corvo moved as he first stood, in a way testing to see if Daud was calm or not, leaning his head over his shoulder, and looked to Emily jumping up on the crates, the young girl starting to look visibly tired.  
Daud let Corvo stand as he wanted, and just ended up tilting his head up, looking to the night sky instead. His expression was one of exhaustion, and actually, sorrow. Seeing this, the Lord Protector raised an eyebrow, starting to wonder what was up with the former assassin at the moment.

"She will be a fine fighter. I know it." Corvo said, voice neutral, smiling a bit. He kept his eyes on Daud to look at his reaction, the man's expression only getting worse. For something was clearly wrong with him.

"..." Corvo sighed, the movements making his chin brush against Daud's shoulder, though. And when he did, he moved his head back, now understanding why he got a chill in him.

"You're... Freezing cold, Daud." Corvo spoke as he put a hand towards Daud's left shoulder and turned the man around to face him. And the hand just slipped down, feeling how it just grew colder and colder from every centimetre his fingers trailed against. Soon the Lord Protector's fingers trailed against something hard, and he felt the outlines of the bonecharm for just a second, and was quick to drag his hand back, all too quick, in fact, as he hit his elbow against the wall.

He wasn't sure why he did that. Now that he thought about it. His eyes shot up to Daud to see his reaction, expecting him to be angry, to grab his throat, or just anything, but instead, the man just stood staring at the arm. Then to Corvo, who now didn't even know what to say. For down the former assassin's cheeks ran a few tears, unnoticed. They fell quickly too, and were just normal, at least that was good.

Corvo had seen him like this before, but then it was different. Now there was more, Daud looked more dead due to the coughing, maybe, or...?

"... Is the pain worse?" Corvo spoke carefully.

"Daud." Corvo didn't get a reply, so he lifted up the man's head to make him look at him, but... Daud moved his head away. For this snapped the man out of it, and he focused, looking to Corvo for a fleeting moment, before he jerked his head out of the others grip, and turned to leave.  
Corvo had no other choice than to go after him, so Corvo wandered behind him, until they reached Daud's quarters. It was spotless when they entered, but Corvo now saw that Daud had left a trail. He was bleeding, and a lot too. All this walking apparently got Daud dizzy, and he leaned heavily against a wall, ending up coughing afterwards, holding an arm around his torso.

"Leave."

"No." Corvo's voice was strangled, and walked up to the former assassin, carefully too. But when he got closer and he felt Daud's eyes bore into him, he moved more confidently, and brought out his arms towards the assassin's head. The former assassin who reacted with his eyes, but were unable to do anything about it.  
The former assassin who now was in Corvo's arms, the man hugging him close. But it was not to make things better, no, far from it.. This was adding salt to the wound, Corvo was fully aware of this.

But to Daud, it was very different. His breathing got more erratic and uneven, and suddenly Corvo found himself against a wall again, having been pushed back. Daud looked pissed off now, his mark starting to glow, even. He was about to do something, Corvo wasn't sure what, but it looked like he was after blood from the expression on his face.

"I told you to leave." Daud growled, fully sane and aware. As if a switch had been flipped, which was the case, Daud was using his powers.

"I'm not leaving." Corvo said, voice serious now. He started to look pissed off himself now.

With that said Daud disappeared and appeared in front of the Lord Protector, a hand flying towards his person, grabbing after him. Corvo was quick to dodge it, despite being a bit tired, the man hating that there was so little space here, for it meant he needed to move a bit more dance-like, making sure his footwork was good enough to not knock him over. Unless Daud was going to do that, but it looked worse than it was, most likely, for there was no swords, and if Daud wanted to kill him, he would do so quickly and without Corvo maybe not knowing, if he was to be this serious. But he was careful, walking casually after Corvo. Corvo threw his arm towards Daud, who let him take him, and the man felt Daud's arms on him too, fingers digging into his shoulders. Daud started to push at him, and nudging him towards the door, apparently going to use force to get Corvo out safely.  
But Corvo resisted and tried to fight it, in a sense wanting to use a dirty trick by hurting Daud, but knew all too well that would be a bad idea, so instead he tried to get Daud off his feet, even if he in a sense knew that at this point, he could just stop and give in, for Daud was overpowering him, Corvo ending up against the wall by now, yet again.

Corvo grunted, gritting his teeth as his arms started to give in. So, he did a bit of a dirty trick after all, blinking and getting Daud off his feet, both of them ending up crashing against the floor, and that seemed to do it to get Daud to stop.  
He started ending up violently once he hit the floor, unable to move for a moment as his strength just left him when he resumed control, and curled up, twitching even with every cough.  
Corvo got to his feet and crawled over to him, and moved him to his side, not minding the fact that he had just wrestled him. To be honest, Corvo expected this from day one. He made sure that Daud could breathe while he was coughing.

"... You're a fucking idiot." Corvo growled, knowing Daud heard him despite the coughing. He leaned over him just to try to help him stop the coughing, but found that he didn't help at all. It just had to pass. But what he did end up doing, was to pat his back occasionally when it sounded like he was choking.

"It's enough now, Daud." Corvo finally said when Daud had stopped. He laid there, staring out into nothing, tears clouding his eyes. He just looked so fucking angry where he laid.

"Tell me everything."

"... Why?" Daud sneered, voice broken.

"You're not staying alive like this."

"I know my limits."

"You stubborn oaf, just tell me everything!" Corvo raised his voice a bit, although he didn't mean to.

Corvo knew Daud left out things, even when he wrote in his journal. He knew he was hiding things. Things he maybe didn't see as important, but it was. By the Void, it was. For even if he knew it hismelf, Daud was indirectly killing himself with this. Either that, or he was so tired, he didn't think straight.

The latter was true.  
Daud just fell silent, except for the occasional cough, that just added more sludge onto the floor. A moment later, and Daud broke down, completely too. Corvo only saw how his body moved, but just out of that he understood what happened. He kept quiet.

"... I killed my men without reason;- I hoped." Daud spoke, his voice harsh and angry. "I'm still alive. They could still live... But with pain. They couldn't take that sort. Not there. We would have to take over the Cat." The man's breathing was harsh.  
"What if it passed. What if it got better. It could've stopped. I could've avoided killing them. If I knew back then- I-... They would still be alive..." A pause to breathe again. "I went to check on my remaining men, Corvo. They're dead." The last words got strangled in the man's throat. "They died anyway."

Corvo raised a brow. That explained why the guards had heard footsteps the last night. And why Daud was so tired and up now.

"Hah- as well, warmth helps against the pain. That's all I know now about this thing." He looked to his arm for a moment. "It could've helped my men.- but no"

Corvo now understood why Daud was in front of the fireplace all the time. Why... Since he moved, he had gotten worse. Why he went out, maybe too, despite his orders.  
Sighing, Corvo grabbed Daud's body and hauled him up into his arms, having him lie there rather comfortably. "Wrap an arm around me." Corvo said. "Unless you got more to confess."

"You know most of the rest, Corvo." Daud wasn't helpless to get out of this, but at the moment, like all the other moments Corvo got close, did as he wanted, he let him, out of the fact that he didn't care anymore. For even from the start, Daud could've gotten out of Corvo's grip and went away, despite the pain and inability to breathe properly. He could even kill him, and live. Maybe go unconscious, but that would be fine. But he didn't, because of the guilt he felt about all that had happened over the last months. He deserved punishment, and not death. So he let Corvo do this. Let him hold him up like this. Let himself relax, and more importantly, let himself FEEL the pain. Something that Corvo started to understand now. All of this, were apparent in his mind. And it made things a lot easier for Corvo to understand.

And he would do something about this too.

He hugged Daud closer, holding him bridal style, and got up, walking quickly to get him to the destination as quickly as possible. Daud didn't protest, he rather laid his head against the Lord Protector's shoulder, hiding his longest scar in it. He even sighed deeply, trying to hide the fact that this was very nice for him at the moment. Trying to hide that wanting for warmth.  
They reached Corvo's room, Daud being dropped onto the couch after Corvo kicked it in place in front of the fireplace, as Corvo's arms were a bit too tired out from wrestling Daud. Daud grunted and started to get up, not going to have it like this. No.

But he was pushed down by the Lord Protector, who kept his hand there on his shirt to make sure he would stay, eyes digging into Daud's.

"Why."

"You will live. As simple as that."

... Daud stayed. He got the meaning behind those words, and settled with them. Watching the fire in front of the fireplace flare back up to life, Corvo found his eyes back on his spy, and sighed deeply.

"Why did you let yourself be soothed?"

"I hoped I could relay it to my men. And had to make sure it worked."

Corvo grew quiet, and got back up to his feet, starting to remove his shirt, in full view of Daud, who just jerked his eyes away. "You too." Corvo muttered, and threw the shirt aside.

This time Daud had no answer to him, and simply obeyed. He didn't throw it to the side, though, only let it stay a bit open, looking over himself and the different colour. It had spread a bit, down to his stomach.

"It's moved."

"Do you have any idea what it is, Daud...?" Corvo asked, putting on a new shirt for sleeping in.

"... Rot. Like a bonecharm that I used once, where it rotted away three of my teeth, one for each use of it. This one, it is just worse." He left out the part where he gave it to one of his men, for... He... ... He just did.

NOW Corvo got more of a reaction to Daud's words, and he snapped his attention to him. He couldn't deny that he thought of that himself, but he had in a sense, hoped he wasn't wrong. For it made no sense. Daud's chest was rotting. He was coughing up blood. He shouldn't be breathing, and shouldn't have a pulse...

"This... It will just eat at you, until you rot away...?"

"I think so, as long as I use my powers. Or it."

"Oh?"

"I tried different powers while warm. It didn't make the pain worse. But lifting heavy things did so.

Corvo's eyebrows furrowed, he started to grow a biiit confused at what he was feeling, as well as thinking at the moment, but let it go for now.

"It means-; you follow orders, Daud. And from now on, do something to not stay awake. And take care of yourself." Corvo ordered, voice determined and serious. "Understood!?" He had to confirm, for he had gone against orders several times already. It was a weird feat that Corvo still trusted the assassin.

"... Understood, Corvo." It showed that this was something Daud didn't want, but had to. But Corvo didn't care. He just went to bed, and once in it, looked over to Daud, expecting him to pick up the duvet. He did, and wrapped himself around in it, shirt still open, but not caring.  
Corvo didn't sleep the remainder of the night. Neither did Daud, despite him being emotionally exhausted.


	10. A chuckle

Swords swung at a rapid speed in front of the young Empress, her eyes glued to the footwork used by the two men she watched fight. For months they had been willing to let her watch, and now occasionally Corvo gave Emily some pointers as he fought Daud. Pointers she would have to test out later, which was no problem for the young girl, as this was exactly what she waited for. Daud was quick to disappear to his work after they had fought, always a bit too quick to avoid speaking to the Empress too, he never seemed to have the time, nor to take it. If she spoke to him, his choice of words were short, but never dismissive- Daud showed her the respect she deserved. Perhaps the silence was a part of it, Emily had pondered about this for a while. For as the months had gone by, Daud had earned her trust from working endlessly, and in general by Corvo's trust in him. It was often she would watch them just in the corner of her eye, heads close to each other well hidden from the nobles and other high standing officials, muttering things to each other. Clearly Daud reported on what he saw. And once they were done, he disappeared into the shadows.

Then he made himself known at the end of court, never by surprise, he just sort of showed up, always at Corvo's side. Reporting of what he's heard, and going off again.

He wasn't much around either. He was always busy... So having him fight Corvo like this was a rare thing, one that Emily really liked, though, for she couldn't help but to be curious about him. Why was he sick...? ... Corvo told her why he was here, to pay for what he's done with his life, and one that he couldn't lose either. So Corvo kept an eye on him, always. But... Does he like it? Or?

Her thoughts distracted her for a moment, her attention snapping to her Lord Protector once he spoke to her, and was unfortunately finished.

"Uh?" She muttered, looking to him. Corvo only smiled a bit. "Watch the sword twist in our hands."

"Of course...!" Emily tore herself from her thoughts.

That promoted Corvo to start doing so, just as Daud did as well, both showing off more than anything else. She caught how their hands moved, and nodded.   
They fought for another hour before Corvo suddenly stumbled back after an ear piercing sound made by the two swords meeting. He nearly stumbled over, and gave Daud a very annoyed look, yet... He looked a bit concerned.

Daud's breathing was erratic and uneven, mouth open to get air. He looked tired, his shoulders a bit tensed than normal... He had enough. So Corvo folded his sword back as it should be and went over to Daud, patting his shoulder, and placing a hand on his sword hand. Daud grumbled, but put away his sword, and with this, he waved at Corvo, bowed to Emily, and left.

Emily looked after him, looking very confused for a moment. "... What happened, Corvo?" She asked, still looking at the closing door behind her.

"I guess he didn't feel like telling me to stop, and showed it differently." Corvo knew exactly why, but couldn't tell Emily that bonecharms had actual effects for those marked. For Corvo's mark was best hidden for her. Daud's was fine, she already knew of this, but also knew he didn't use his powers as he did before, out of respect. And to put his former occupation on the shelf for good. As a spy, he wouldn't need them...  
Emily and Corvo started fighting, Corvo still having a few hours in him. They kept on it for hours, until Emily got too tired, and he put her to bed. He left her room quietly, for it was very late in the evening, and headed towards his room, which by now was finished being built.  
He wandered slowly, taking his time, for he couldn't deny that he himself was a bit tired as well.  
Soon he got into his place, finding Daud where he usually would when he wasn't out working, in front of the fireplace. He sat as he usually did, legs folded, and arms crossed. But tonight, he didn't look to him. Tonight the man was asleep like this, and due to the light, Corvo figured he had to check him. As well as get him into the couch. But doing that was always a gamble, Daud might wake up and smash him down into the floor, or worse, fireplace. He'd done that once, and Corvo could still remember how things went black for a second or two after that impact...

Corvo settled on his side, the fire warming him up rapidly, and cupped the man's face, lifting it up slightly, and towards him too so he could look properly. He found some black sludge from his nose, but it was dried, meaning it was not much. Corvo sighed slightly, and in the corner of his eye, spotted Daud's journal in between his legs, resting on his thigh. He carefully positioned Daud's head again, deciding to read that while he let Daud snooze, wanting in a sense to avoid waking him for as long as he could let himself to.

_Nothing much has happened. I feel better, although there is still much work with keeping the powers subdued. Fought Corvo again, on the request of Emily, which helped to practice how much control I really have. Figured I had more than I did, I slipped up at the end. Bled minimally, pain is tolerable.  
Corvo's movements remind me of the Whaler's. I hope to forget this fact soon, it's making it hard to concentrate._

_Rot hasn't moved. Bonecharm is cold._

_Taste is gone. It's a good sign, one I hope to keep. But- it will mean taking it easier from now on. ___

__Suddenly the journal in his hand snapped shut all of sudden, Corvo twitching back out of surprise. Daud's gloved hands was on each side, and when Corvo noticed this, he looked right up to him, their heads not far from each other._ _

__"... Morning." Corvo joked a bit, Daud only huffing, with a very weak smile on his lips. Daud only sighed, taking the journal back from Corvo._ _

__"I'll get up." Daud muttered, starting to do exactly that. He held out a hand to Corvo, who gladly took it._ _

__"Been a while since you told me how you are." Corvo explained, not being able to deny that he was a bit annoyed at that fact. That Daud had made himself so busy he was barely at the Tower. But it was nothing Daud reacted to, he only gave Corvo a slight look while he dusted himself off, always sleeping with his clothes on. Corvo frowned a bit, and took a hold of Daud's arm before he reached the couch, and made him turn towards him._ _

__"What do you mean my moves remind me of your Whaler's?" Corvo asked, not too sure if he should, but... He had to.  
... Eyes darted to Corvo's eyes, locking with him. A sort of sorrow surfaced in him as he clearly was looking for the right words, and maybe looking a bit in Corvo's eyes for answers too. His lips slightly parted, crows feet showing more, he just... Looked like this was hard to talk about._ _

__"... You got some back alley fighting in you. Like they did." He muttered, keeping his eyes on him. Corvo felt a bit stunned, but didn't show it. That Daud actually spoke about it, and just didn't shake his head, was a pretty big deal... Swallowing, Corvo continued._ _

__"... Can I... Ask you something about them?"_ _

__A pause followed. Daud took a deep breath. "... You're wondering how they died, aren't you?"_ _

__"Ah-... You saw that."  
Nodding, Daud took a step or so back, standing on the side of the fireplace. He... Figured he needed to say this. To someone._ _

__"They refused to die quietly. So, they turned on me, not letting me... Kill them painlessly."  
That explained all the black sludge everywhere, which was something Corvo had started to think about a while ago. For, they had started planning the restoration of the Flooded District, and then he got reminded of how Daud's hideout looked when he last visited. Corvo only stood with lips half parted, a bit of a shocked expression on his face, for he thought that Daud would do it in their sleep._ _

__"They must had noticed."_ _

__"Yes." Daud's reply sounded like a breath more than a word. "Is that it, then?"_ _

__"... No. Is... Is the bonecharm why you avoid Emily? Stay so far away from her?"_ _

__"Yes."_ _

__... Corvo understood that, sighing deeply as he looked away. "Keep this up. For she has started to trust you, Daud. And I want you to teach her how to fight."_ _

__"No."_ _

__"It's an order, Daud. You don't have a say in it."_ _

__Daud's expression soured, and a lot as well. He took a deep breath through a very angry expression by now, that only started to go through a few ones, before it ended up on a resigned one.  
"You're staying with us. I won't be alone with her."_ _

__"That's the plan, yes."_ _

__Daud didn't reply, and glanced for a moment to Corvo's hand, that still was on his shoulder. Daud didn't mind it. He looked back to the Lord Protector, and sighed._ _

__"What more?" He asked, eyes staying on him for now._ _

__"... Did you go with a taste of rot in your mouth all this time?"_ _

__"Yes."_ _

__"... So you taste food again...? No wonder you eat more..." Corvo smiled a bit, Daud only looking a bit like he thought that comment wasn't too necessary._ _

__Corvo moved his head ever so slightly, just a little, and smiled. "How about we open a bottle of whiskey? You seem to need it."_ _

__Daud emoted mostly with his eyes lately, always having a frown, and Corvo slowly, but surely, learned how to read these expressions. It seemed that Daud approved, so Corvo went off to his desk, finding a bottle in one of the cabinets. Glasses were here in a sense, as they had each their own coffee cups here and there, Daud's on a tray by the couch._ _

__So, with Daud sitting on the desk, just barely so, he drank together with the man in the chair, both not too far away from each other. Corvo even lit a cigar, letting it rest in between his teeth. Daud had quit smoking due to it making him cough more than he should, so Corvo smoking was always a sort of trigger for him to have one himself, but it was one he had learned to ignore more and more as time went on. Instead, he actually found himself enjoying the smell of it, rather than smoking himself, so he ended up close when Corvo smoked._ _

__The Lord Protector turned to Daud, offering another glass. Daud gladly took another one. And another after some time.  
He was no alcoholic, but he could surely drink if he wanted to. Maybe a bit to forget things, and have some break from things, as Corvo had seen Daud with a bottle or two. When he thought about it, it seemed that was all he spent his salary on._ _

__Corvo by now was a bit tipsy, Daud couldn't deny it himself, though he would never admit to it. He looked it, though, his face ever so slightly red. This was something Corvo noticed after just having watched the fire die down for a while. They had been quiet for this half an hour they spent together, often they didn't need to talk at all, but due to the colour in Daud's face, Corvo couldn't help but to open his mouth._ _

__"Been a while since you've had colour in your face, Daud..." He commented, smiling a bit._ _

__Daud only looked to him over the rim of his cup, but gained a bit of a smile. "Well then, suppose I'd best drink everyday."_ _

__...  
Corvo stared out into nothing, before his eyes snapped to Daud. "... Was that humour?"_ _

__Daud CHUCKLED. A first for Corvo, who only looked more surprised than he had any right to. And worse of all, Daud gave no answer, just sipping his whiskey._ _

__And that shut Corvo up, watching Daud, still with a smile, sipping his whiskey, avoiding looking at him, just seeming to study the painting on the wall over Corvo's swords. One of which was on display, was Daud's Assassin's Blade. Though, despite his surprise, a chuckle came from the Lord Protector as well, who stood up, and offered to toast with Daud, who gladly obliged._ _

__"I suppose alcohol can loosen up everyone."_ _

__"Seems so."_ _

__Finishing their glasses, Corvo put away the bottle, guessing it wouldn't be too wise to drink more. Daud agreed, and went over to tend to the fire, Corvo just ending up watching him, to then unbutton a button or two, getting hot under the collar due to the alcohol. He joined Daud who by now had settled down in front of it, after checking in the room above them if there was anyone there. Daud sat casually, one leg propped up, and resting his arm on it, while the other laid sort of folded. Corvo's sat so he could easily move._ _

__"Come here."  
Not even having the time to look to the Lord Protector, Daud suddenly had an arm around his shoulders, one that dragged him closer to the other. So now their heads touched each other, and it felt weird for the former assassin, who, in his tipsy state, didn't find it in him to protest.  
"... What are you doing, Corvo?"_ _

__"Warming you. And avoiding more bleeding."  
Wiping at his face to get the dried sludge off, Daud let Corvo keep him like this, honestly not wanting to move._ _

__Time passed a bit too quickly, and both the men grew drowsy. Though, Daud more than Corvo, as he fell asleep again, Corvo only doing so barely, finding Daud's head leaning down on his shoulder, heavily so. He was most likely still lightly asleep, not aware of how he was sitting either, but none of these things Corvo thought about. In fact, he cupped his spy's face in his hand, lifting his head, only to have him blink drowsily, seeing who it is, and just... Completely trusting him with this. Not minding, not caring.  
And it honestly surprised Corvo, seeing how Daud sort of leaned into his touch. But he started to move away, only to find Corvo moving closer to him, almost like in slow motion. And he moved to meet him, not thinking straight..._ _

__Their lips met, waking up both of them from their drowsy state after a shared kiss. Realising what they did, they pulled away QUICKLY, snapping their sight from each other. Corvo let Daud go as well, quickly too._ _

__Clearing his throat, Corvo got back on his feet._ _

__"Goodnight." Corvo spoke fast, and went to his bed even faster, nearly wanting to blink to get away quickly enough._ _

__"Night." Daud replied just as quick, both slipping under their respective covers. And both more red than they should be... Corvo only hoped they didn't remember it the next day._ _


	11. "Let's Go Home."

A chill ran through the air in Dunwall, winds blowing ever so gently around the streets and rain pouring, creeping into the creaks and holes of the city. A city whee Daud still felt at home, so returning to it after a few days further into the country was always nice. His work had taken him further up north, ending up walking most of the way, as he had set a goal to not become too comfortable with the life in the Tower, and what was on offer. Even though he lived there, worked there, he had no business making it a home.

No. Despite, it starting to feel like it, considering all those times he had come and gone. Always greeted by someone.

Daud sighed heavily, and climbed his way up to the rooftops, wanting to avoid all sort of eventual confrontation with guards, just out of preference more than any good reason.

He managed his way to the Tower grounds, climbed up high, and slipped in through an always open window, whenever he was gone. He closed it after him, finding himself in his quarters, the place just about unused, dusting down, and in the middle of being rebuilt, to fit a fireplace there. Daud didn't mind, his things in a safe in a storage room, so he didn't care what happened in there.

Taking off his wet, heavy coat, he draped it over his arm, and stepped out, his whole being wet due to the rain, so he was dripping onto the floor, leaving a trail. He didn't mind. He passed by some guards, a maid or two on his wandering to the Lord Protector's offices, to greet him with a report, one he kept in his inner pockets. He arrived to the doors, and as he was alone, he walked straight in, closing the door after him. Inside, due to the time, Corvo was fast asleep in his bed, the man looking like he have had a rough day.

Daud simply went on with his business, hung up his coat to dry, settled in his couch and started writing what he missed due to the rain, and placed the papers on Corvo's desk. Then he proceeded to dress down to only undershirt and pants, boots as well, and he found himself settling in front of the fireplace, his duvet wrapped around him. He got it going again as it had gone out, and he stayed there, trying to warm up. HOURS passed by, and Daud ending up snoozing, much to the now awakened Lord Protector, who slipped on his boots quietly, having not expected Daud to be back this quickly. Though, he had no complaints, the quicker things went, the better. He quietly slipped out of bed, and found himself kneeling to Daud's side, seeing that he was half asleep, drifting between the two sides, his head hanging heavily. The fire had started to go out, and knowing that he would wake up no matter what happened, Corvo reached out to Daud's shoulder, patting it lightly.

Daud's eyebrows furrowed and the entire man tensed up, and slowly he lifted his head, eyes blinking open as he stared suspiciously at the one who woke him up. His expression softened, however, when he saw who it was, but this change was only mild.

"... Report is on the desk."

"Thank you." Corvo nodded, keeping his hand there for a moment, before he got up, and went on over to the couch. He moved it closer to the fireplace, having no problems pushing it in place. Daud was on his feet when he noticed what the Lord Protector was about to do, and stepped out of the way. Once the couch was in place, Daud set to reignite the fire, and then dropped the duvet in the couch, revealing his still very wet clothing.  
Not knowing why that got Corvo to look away, he still stepped a bit closer to him, placing a hand on his back, and dragging it over his shoulderblades... Before he dragged Daud a bit back, and pushed him into the couch, moving along to make sure he was settled well into it.

Daud looked pretty taken off guard, nearly about to grab Corvo and most likely hurt him severely, but the grip he had on Corvo's shoulder lessened, and he sighed deeply, understanding why the Lord Protector did this.

"Fine. I'll sleep."

"If you can, please do." Corvo replied, moving back as he let Daud lie down properly. "I'll wake you up if you sleep too long."

Daud only grumbled, and found himself comfortable...

Corvo did as he had to, working hard as always. But occasionally he passed by his offices, and rekindled the fire for Daud, who actually did as he said he would, the man deeply asleep. He laid on his back for once, a kind of snore coming from him. Corvo only hoped it didn't come from sludge stuck in his throat...  
At the end of the day for Corvo, he finally found time to look over Daud's report, the man himself still fast asleep.

After reading the papers, the Royal Protector's face darkened. And he looked over to the couch, just for a moment, before snapping his eyes back to the papers in his hand.

... Then there was only one thing to do, then. Go back to the Flooded District, as Daud suggested before he left to go up North.  
But why he had suggested it, was still a mystery to Corvo, who didn't have the time to ask. So... Tomorrow, would be a good opportunity. 

With this in mind, and hoping Emily wouldn't mind the trip, the Lord Protector slipped into bed, only to be woken up later by Daud, who was changing clothes, his equipment having fallen off the couch, therefore waking the Lord Protector, who was quick to sit up in the bed. He looked to Daud, who had just wandered past his bedside, and frowned a bit deeply due to the man being shirtless.

"... Sorry, Corvo. I didn't mean to wake you." Daud muttered, seeming relaxed. He didn't have the need to hide.

The Lord Protector only smiled a bit, shaking his head. "It's alright, Daud." The man got out of bed, Daud looking curiously to him. He had no boots, pants and his shirt was half open due to the warmth in the room, Corvo not minding how he looked at the moment.

He walked up to Daud, who stopped, turning to him.

"... What?"

Corvo carefully placed his hands on Daud's shoulders, both at a place where his skin was dead. Supposedly dead, though. He let them stay there for a little while, feeling some warmth radiating from the man.

"... So, you do retain some heat?"

Daud nodded, watching Corvo with a guarded look. Then he removed Corvo's hands off him, not roughly, however. "Go back to sleep, Corvo."

Corvo sighed for a moment, moving Daud before he could turn around to go back to his drying clothes. "If what you wrote in the report was all you found, you're free to go to Rudshore. But, I want to come with you."  
Daud knew this was coming, so with thin lips he simply nodded, eyebrows furrowing deeply. His eyes wandered to Corvo's for a moment, nodding quietly to him. "When you're ready, tell me and we'll leave." Daud said quietly.

"Not before you tell me why you're going back, Daud. What did you leave there?"

"... I didn't have time to dispose of all my men's bodies. Your arrival stopped me." Daud's voice sounded strained, broken. "They're still there." He took a deep breath, removing Corvo's hands off him again. "I want to see if they have decomposed."

"... And you're thinking of this first now, Daud?"

"... They were more than my subordinates, Corvo." Avoiding looking Corvo in the eyes, Daud went back to the couch, leaving Corvo with a heavy realisation on his shoulders. Daud simply sat down, feeling the sleeve of his shirt to see if it was dry.  
Corvo bit his lip. "... We leave in the morning."

"As you will."

Silence fell over the two of them, and Corvo went back to sleep. 

The next day, Emily was not among the two men when they took a boat up the river to reach the Flooded District in the easiest way possible. This, due to the news Daud told Corvo.

The two men were silent as the grave, Daud the one piloting the boat. Corvo sat watching the buildings pass them, soon seeing that they passed the Hounds Pit. He looked after it a bit too long, hoping that after the cleanup of the city, and rebuilding, that the place could be opened yet again. Daud paid Corvo no mind, he was just quiet, his expression neutral like always.

They docked outside of the Whale Oil Distillery area, Corvo helping Daud to get the boat up on land so it wouldn't float away with the currents. It wasn't too heavy, and Corvo could tell Daud was restraining himself when it came to his strength, and it was a good sign, at least. For he guessed, going back here... It could not be a good experience for the man.

Daud immediately started moving, wandering through to find his way to his hideout. Corvo followed suit, and took a hold of Daud's hand, the man only looking to him for a moment, before remembering why. They blinked their way to door, and slipped inside, finding the remains of the Overseer's still there. They were decomposing for sure, the smell proving that. So, the men were quick to move on, Corvo reminding himself to send the Abbey to collect these men later.

For some odd reason, Daud and Corvo held hands all the way to the carriage station, and beyond that too. Maybe they just forgot about it, as they wandered through the muck of the place, or it was in case they were seen, or something. Who knows.  
But coming through the door, they understood that they needed to stay like this, for many of the walkways that had been set up had been destroyed, either by weather, or something else. A bit of work had been done on the former Overseer offices too, Jessamine's statue having been moved ever so slightly away from it to be able to demolish it, most likely.  
Daud only started up at her when they landed on the rooftop beside where the first section of the walkway was taken down, Corvo looking up too. They had a sombre look in their eyes, but moved on without saying much.  
The waters had risen since the last time they had been there, so they made sure to get up high, Corvo needing to run and blink together with Daud. But one place, they found themselves stuck, only a very high jump would clear the distance needed to land safely.

"I can stop time with my Blink, Corvo. I'll throw you and you blink, while I leap."

Corvo glared at Daud. His mind raced, would he allow this? Or not?

"Go ahead."

Daud, without much of a warning, took a hold of Corvo after letting go off his hand, and casually flung Corvo a bit too far, but not so that the man didn't manage to twist himself around in midair a bit, and blink up, rolling onto the not too steady remains of the walkway to get his bearings again.  
Daud followed suit when Corvo was safely over, jumping up high after running a few steps, and found a good angle, blinking a little bit higher to make it, so he sat perched up on some ruined walls. Where he jumped down quickly, only to nearly blink away due to Corvo suddenly positioning himself just where he was about to land, the man actually catching Daud skilfully before his impact with the ground, nearly toppling over due to this, though, especially since Daud was about to use Corvo as a springboard to get away from him due to the surprise.

Corvo chuckled, and held Daud close to him while he steadied himself, stepping back a few paces.

Daud got his balance back too and tore himself out of Corvo's arms roughly, looking rather pissed. "Corvo, what in the Void did you do that for!?"

"That jump down from there was too high, Daud. You still need to restrain yourself" Corvo said calmly, smiling a bit, though. "You've already done too much." He gestured to the man's face, who now understood why, the anger in his face subsiding slowly, as he checked his nose, seeing black sludge on his sleeve after wiping it.

"... Let's move on." Daud muttered, and took Corvo's hand, the two of them moving along to Daud's offices, finding it untouched. Somehow.

Daud went to get things he needed, while Corvo took a better look around the place, wandering around. When he went up to the second floor Daud passed him in the stairs, and he found the bed, black as always. A bit moldy too.

He wandered over the platform, finding himself watching Daud.

And there he sat for hours, once with a snack or so, that he had brought along, watching the bodies of the Whaler's pile up as Daud collected them from where he apparently had hidden them. All the bodies, from what Corvo could tell, where not even decomposing.  
It stunned him. The wounds looked fresh too... Though, black... Black as the sludge Daud had been bleeding, just moments ago. He looked to Daud, clearly, he had expected this... He had no reactions, no change in his expression, which only looked sorrowful. Angry. Sad...

Soon, it seemed Daud was done, as there wasn't more of them left.

They lad side to side, maybe less than a twelve of them. And with this, Daud looked up to Corvo, gesturing to him to leave. So, Corvo did this, out of respect for the dead.

Inside of his offices, Daud checked his men, even though he really didn't want to. He had already seen enough after just checking one, looking to his wounds where his skin had rotted, and seeing how the flesh inside looked, just from a glance, he didn't even need to touch him. Black, and dead.

Having seen whale oil tanks close by due to the rebuilding of the place and moving of Jessamine statue, Daud slipped down and got two of them, one for each trip.

He carefully got them open, spreading the oil over his men... Over the place, over his bed... Everywhere. Then, after having picked it off Corvo while he hugged him, he picked up a cigar, put it in his mouth although he was bleeding to the point the sludge stained the paper and dripped down to his shoes, and lit it with a match he had with him in his old coat, puffing it for a moment or two, before he threw the still lit match into the oil, causing it to flare up within mere seconds.

He stood smoking there, in the flames, safe from them, however, due to being smart with where he spilled the oil. He would be safe there for a few minutes, if he knew how whale oil burned right.

Corvo heard the fires start, as it was not hard to hear. He quickly got up from sitting outside where they had just been, and blinked up to the roof of the Overseer offices, finding Daud standing there in a sea of flame, smoking calmly.  
The view sent a wave of fear into the Lord Protector's chest, as well as sorrow, and he suddenly found himself landing right behind the other man, who only looked over his shoulder, tears staining his eyes, and bleeding from the nose. He looked so angry, yet sorrowful still, holding in a cough, that forced it's way through.

Corvo moved in quickly, feeling the burning warmth of the fire on his skin as he wrapped his arms around Daud, and hugged him very close, Daud not even seeming to mind. He, in fact, wrapped his arms around the other, his head burying into the Lord Protectors neck, hiding his face there. Corvo could tell that the flames wouldn't directly burn them, but it made it very warm for every second that went on.  
So, he was about to blink away, when Daud did so instead. They found themselves by one of the windows, Daud kicking the metal frames away from it, and with this, Corvo blinked down to the platforms on the ruined building beside the Overseer's offices, the two having separated for the trip.  
But Corvo was quick to cup Daud's head in his hands, and pull him back into his arms, the Lord Protector's expression strained, a bit sorrowful as well. And angry as hell, due to Daud using energy he shouldn't had, for he felt how much he was bleeding, due to Daud hiding his face again, maybe doing it to calm down, Corvo wasn't sure...

... But Daud calmed down, rather quickly too, pulling back as he looked up to the building, his old home. 

What could burn and what wasn't wet burned quickly. Not much of the building did, but most of his offices, and his men, at least where turned to ash. As Daud wanted, by the end of them watching it, he seemed a bit more... Calm. He hadn't really cried, more so than letting a few tears run past him. So he looked fine, else from the bleeding.

He stood up after having sat down with Corvo at his side, helping the Lord Protector up. Then he wiped his nose with his sleeve, the bleeding had stopped.

"... Let's go home." Corvo said, as he patted Daud's shoulder, who only looked to him in silence for a little moment.

"... Yeah."


	12. Sorrow

After a long trip down the river, and many jumps across the rooftops later where they had held hands, looked out for each other, they finally slipped into the Tower through the windows, Daud bleeding too much to make it possible for them to take the door, like they should've. But it didn't matter, nobody would raise an eyebrow at them suddenly being home like this anyway.

They finally released the grip of each other's hand, Corvo's slipping slowly out of Daud's as the man loosened up his grip. Daud swallowed hard to keep himself from drooling blood, the man sighing heavily. They found their way out of the spy's quarters, and back to Corvo's offices, Corvo needing to leave Daud to go and talk to Emily, before she would go to sleep. He undressed quickly, changing his clothes after a wash, not even minding that Daud was sitting on the couch, watching the flames he started burn. The black stain on the towel was a grim reminder, once Corvo glanced to it while he fixed his hair... He looked to Daud for a little second, then.. He casually threw the Towel to Daud, who reacted swiftly, catching it midair... Then just... Stared at it.

"Clean yourself up. You've stopped bleeding now, right?"

Daud didn't say anything, but did as he was told. He even wiped off the stains on his boots at the end, and casually threw the towel into the fire, watching how it burned.  
... For a very good while.

When Corvo came back after an hour or so, Daud still sat there, unmoving. At least he was clean, the sludge no longer outlining his frown wrinkles. Corvo sighed, having no idea what caused him to do all this, but... He slowly approached, seeing Daud react and just... Not mind Corvo's approach, so Corvo settled beside him in the couch, finding it sort of comfortable as it was nice and warm there.  
He reached out to Daud, to hug around him again, but this time his arm was grabbed instead, and his body was pinned down into the couch. Wide, yet confused eyes met Corvo's rather annoyed ones, and he only stared at them, Daud's expression telling him a lot about his current state of mind. He hovered over Corvo, face only centimetres away from the others.

"... Daud." Corvo sighed deeply, just letting Daud pin him down until he calmed down.

Daud's breath hitched, his expression only twisting into something akin to realisation, and pain. Corvo didn't want to say anything more, so he just tried to reach for him again, hands cupping his face. Daud took one of Corvo's hands in his own and moved it away, his expression softening slightly as he stopped pinning Corvo, and let him sit up.

"Sorry about that." Daud muttered.

"Lost in thought...?" The only reply Corvo got was a nod.

"... Hrm. Come here."

Daud looked to him for a moment, sort of confused to what he meant. Soon he found a hand on his head, and being pulled to rest against Corvo's head.

"... I'm-"

"You're not fine, Daud. Relax, and let yourself mourn."  
About to protest, about to shove Corvo away from him, Daud's hands just wouldn't listen to him. He knew Corvo was right, yet he fought against it, not wanting to let this get better. He shouldn't. Corvo shouldn't allow it. He should be-...

"... Weren't a part of this whole thing that I suffer?"

"For what you did to Jessamine and Emily, yes. Not this..." Corvo took a deep breath, glad Daud had left his equipment in his crate. "You killed men you considered your children, Daud. That is not something you can let fester. It'll drive you mad."

Oh- Corvo crossed a line he never should had with those words. The hand on his chest tightened, Daud's head rising, but all of suddenly he just... Lost all will to fight. His anger melted away.  
Corvo was right. He knew this, deep down... So the fingers clutching Corvo's shirt relaxed, and the man... He actually wrapped his arms completely around Corvo. He said nothing, his face hiding in the others shoulder. Corvo allowed it, and found himself hugging around Daud, first now smelling the alcohol on him. Sighing, he hoped he would sober up soon.

Though, he most likely would, as the spy in his arms fell asleep, oddly enough. The same did the Lord Protector after some resignation to the situation, as he didn't want Daud to lose his sleep. 

The next morning they woke up, Corvo finding Daud still fast asleep on his chest, as it seemed Corvo had slipped to the side due to Daud's weight. It hurt a bit to have Daud's arms under him, but it wasn't something that really bothered him by now. But Daud's arms... They had to be numb.  
So Corvo patted the other's cheek a bit, getting him awake, and quickly too, for Daud only moved his head up, looking to him. "..." His eyes widened, and he quickly got up, proving that his arms were in fact, not numb.

They separated, and went back to their work.

Mere weeks later they found themselves able to look at the other again, as Daud was there to do so. His work had taken him up north again, now looking for more answers considering the bonecharm. He got a bit more information, but needed to go back to Dunwall to report his findings to Corvo. And take a few days to rest.  
Corvo was pacing by the time Daud walked into the room, seeing the Lord Protector a complete mess. He was stressed out, tired... Everything. There was even a glass of Whiskey with a a nearly full bottle beside it, and a cigar in between his fingers.

"Daud..." Corvo stopped, looking to him as if he was looking at a ghost.

"... You... Welcome back."

A bit of silence followed from the spy, who only frowned deeply after a nod as a thank you. The papers in his hand were put back in his chest pocket, Corvo looking confused over him.

"No- give me the report." Corvo said, putting his cigar away.

"You need to relax, Corvo."

"... Heh- says the workaholic." The man got a weak smile, not having expected Daud to tell him to relax.

"Shut up." Daud actually got a very weak smile himself. He then crossed his arms, staring at Corvo in an attempt to stare him down. Corvo eventually resigned and sat down onto his desk, grabbing his glass. "Then keep me company."

"Alright."

Daud sat as he usually would, and took Corvo's glass from him, downing the whiskey left in it. Corvo only frowned, but said nothing, and fetched himself a new glass from his desk, pouring some alcohol both for him and Daud.  
They sat drinking in silence for a little while, Corvo eventually relaxing, not hearing his heartbeat in his ears anymore.

"... How is the health, Daud?"

"... As good as it can get. I've been following orders." He took a sip. "What about you?"

"Me? Just fine. Emily had a cold, but... We got over it."

"Good." Daud got another sort of smile, Corvo now noticing while watching him that he actually weren't paler than snow anymore. He had a bit of colour in his face, and it honestly surprised the man a bit.

Corvo kept drinking, however, until the alcohol made him grow a bit drowsy, and wobbly. Then it was time to stop, so he drank the last of the alcohol, and put the bottle away. Daud didn't' mind, he still had a few sips left, though, and he himself were getting tipsy, so he knew it was time to stop. He wasn't the type to let himself get drunk.  
Corvo laid back and relaxed in his chair, stretching his arms in the progress, trying to get back some vigour. He succeeded, making a bit of a humming sound as he sat more back. Then, he was offered that cigar he was smoking, an offer he accepted, Daud lighting it again for him. And when he did, Corvo all of suddenly dragged Daud to him by his shirt, making him spill the remainder of his Whiskey on his shirt.

"Now give me the damn report."

"... Hm, no." Daud said with a light tone in his voice, teasing the Lord Protector. "Tomorrow. You're drunk."

"I'm not..."

"Yeah." 

"... Shut up." Corvo dragged Daud closer while he held him down like this. It didn't hurt Daud's back, and he took this as a challenge more than anything else.

"... You shouldn't be gone so long." Corvo muttered.

"Why?" Daud raised an eyebrow, starting to realise that being as close as they were was not a good idea, the man a bit slow due to the alcohol, and his general fatigue from being on the move for two weeks.

"It's been empty without you." The words sounded genuine, the spy frowning a bit at them.

"Though seems you are better. Though... ... Daud..." Corvo's initial expression changed, the man starting to look sort of surprised. As he stared deeply into Daud's eyes, a his free hand cupping the man's face to keep him there, which he oddly enough did. Looking confused, Daud just tilted his head ever so slightly.

"You right eye... The iris, it has a black stripe in it."

"... Shit..." Daud looked like he was caught when Corvo saw this, and just looked away from Corvo's eyes, trying to move away, but Corvo wouldn't let him. Then he just.. Gave up resisting. "I have a blind spot. I just... Didn't think it was that, maybe just having looked into the sun..."

Corvo sighed deeply... Very much so... "... Damn that fucking bonecharm." He said, a bit of an annoyed smirk on his face after a little while. Daud got one as well, Corvo's mood was infectious.  
Corvo ended up looking at Daud's eye again, the whole situation starting to feel very intimate, especially when Corvo moved the hand from the spy's chest, and to his face instead, to study him, it seemed... Or just... Who the fuck knew at this point, Corvo didn't, and he didn't care.   
Daud only found himself lost like this. Never having been in something like this, he didn't really know to handle it, and was too slow to figure it out. Still he tried.  
And failed.

A hand moved from Daud's face to the back of his head. He let him, sighing as he closed his eyes, a sign of trust him from. Corvo bit his own lip at that sight, and moved Daud's head closer to his own. Opening his eyes just in time, Daud tilted his head ever so slightly to the side, angling them better. Lips met each other, lingering against each other without much movement, before both of them reacted, getting over the first moments of this whole thing. The kiss was slow, lips parting ever so slightly in the kiss as they pulled back from the very short kiss, both men redder than any of them would admit later.  
Just looking at each other made them kiss again. This time it went a bit quicker, picking up in intensity too, due to how they both were learning as they went on. Corvo sighed in the kiss eventually, his hands not moving, and instead found Daud's on his face, the hands cold, but they were his, so it was fine. When they parted again, it was only for breath. They clashed together again, after Daud stroked a thumb against Corvo's halfly parted lips.

It felt like the world just paused for both of them, as their lips moved against each other, Corvo getting eager, so he let a stray lick against Daud's lips get his attention. An exhale followed from Daud, then a sharp inhale as he returned the gesture, Corvo the one opening his mouth to let Daud in. And they met halfway like they always did, but they found themselves moving more into it both of them, the taste of whiskey mixing between them, none of them caring at all, though. Corvo's breathing quickly picked up along with his heartbeat, and he felt Daud's heartbeat through his skin, and felt how he warmed up as well, his cheeks especially.

Daud eventually had to move back, leaving lingering kisses on Corvo's lips, Corvo only exhaling when he did, taking a sharp inhale when the last kiss was placed and his hands became empty.

Standing up straight, Daud stretched his back, to the point a crack could be heard. Then he just looked a bit humbly to his couch, sighing. "I'd better go to bed."

"Yeah..." Corvo muttered, and stood up as well, standing close to Daud still, and let their fingers graze against each other, before a frown got to his face, and he furrowed his brows deeply, and he grabbed Daud's shirt, pulling him into another kiss, that went right back to how it first was, Daud honestly not too sure sure why he didn't push Corvo off. Instead he cupped Daud's head in his hand, keeping him there.

Corvo pulled back after a little while, though, a breathy sigh escaping him, their noses stroking against each other as they were just lingering close, the temptation to kiss each other again very, very strong.

"... Same... I want that report on my desk _tomorrow_." Corvo chuckled, his playful smirk infectious like nothing else.

Daud chuckled as well, a genuine chuckle, moving a bit away, his smile wider than it had been before. "... Of course. Goodnight."

Corvo smiled too and pecked him goodnight, and Daud was then out of his reach, ending up undressing slightly to just a lose shirt and pants, and getting into the couch, after hitting his leg on it due to the alcohol.

Looking to his bed, Corvo dragged himself there, and ended up in it, fully clothed, which got a bit too warm for him at the moment, so he removed his shirt. With it off, he was quick to curl up, and fall asleep...

Daud fell asleep quickly too, oddly enough.

Corvo was the first to wake up, and found himself sitting up, smelling like whiskey. After a moment of getting up with a weak headache due to the alcohol, he slipped out of bed, cursing at himself for forgetting his boots. He found his way over to Daud in the couch, not really knowing why it was the first place he wanted to go, but let himself do so anyway, for it didn't really matter.  
He looked to the pocket watch on top of his crate, around 4 am. Too early to be awake... For anyone. So...

Corvo slowly patted Daud's face, trying to do it as gentle as he could, despite his headache. Daud muttered something in his sleep, waking up as he swatted Corvo's hand away. And then was quick to open his eyes, fully awake. "... What!? ... Corvo?"

The Lord Protector scoffed cheerfully, and patted Daud's face again. "Move over. I need more sleep."

"You got your own bed..." Daud groaned, about to sit up, but Corvo stopped him by keeping him down. "Just move over."

"Hrmp... Let me out, then."

Chuckling, Corvo cupped the others cheek. "You got a headache too, huh?"

... Daud got it now, and scooted a bit, letting Corvo get some space as he slipped in, the two of them so fucking close, they could feel each others heartbeats. They didn't face each other for long, Daud moved a bit down, ending up facing Corvo's chest instead, and nuzzled a bit into it. To then, place a kiss there, a lingering one. Corvo shuddered, ending up hugging the spy close to him, a shaky breath escaping him. But nothing more happened, and they slept for a few hours together.


	13. Training Emily

"You can't refuse the Empress!" Emily pouted, her voice a little bit louder than it should be, as she really did have hope in Daud.

... Knowing she was right, and wondering if it was worth it, Daud gestured that he was about to draw his sword, waiting a second or so to let Emily step out of the way. But she stood still, feet planted on the floor, waiting for the man to draw it impatiently.

Sighing, Daud drew his sword, swung it around in his hand skilfully, and held out the handle towards the young Empress, who gladly took it, carefully removing it from Daud's hands without hurting him.

"... It's heavier than Corvo's..." Emily muttered, but managed to swing it without getting caught in the swing. Daud didn't move while she worked on her moves, neither did he say anything. He just let her do as she wanted, and didn't even comment when she accidentally swung at the wall, getting the sword stuck. She looked to Daud in a sort of panic, Daud only shrugging, as if saying it wasn't a problem. Emily paused, as she carefully rested the sword against the floor to take a breather, and let her hand move up to her mouth, holding a finger in front of it to Daud.  
He mimicked the gesture, swearing silence about the damage. He looked very serious, however, and gestured quietly for Emily to move with his hand, suggesting she'd stand more out on the open floor. Which, she gladly did, and started to practice again, seeming to have fun.  
The main reason Daud didn't say anything was for the fact he was off the clock, it was 1 am in the morning, and he happened to bump into the young Empress outside as he was getting some fresh air, for a very good while. His breathing, it never really stabilised, so he occasionally ended up taking a stroll outside to breathe easier. Emily was doing as she wanted, Daud unable to chase her back inside both when it came to her status as the EMPRESS, and respect was a given to her, and... The guilt. Regret and pain. But he kept it hidden, for the young girl had started to trust him more and more as the days passed, now telling him to stay and watch her, wanting his sword to practice with. And, bringing it up... No.

And now she was practising for well over an hour. Her grip was getting limp, it was clear that the sword was a bit too heavy for her by now. So soon, she stopped her practice, and held out the sword to Daud to take... She stood by him until he put the sword back in it's place, and then looked to the door, and to the big, big building before her.

"Follow me to my room. I don't want to be caught, so you can listen for people, and tell me to hide!" She said while looking to him for an answer.

... Not wanting to, but not being able to refuse her, Daud walked beside the Empress, who looked more and more tired from every step she took. Daud made sure to lsiten for anyone else walking past, and gestured to Emily to hide whenever there was someone coming, which she gladly did, finding herself smiling a little at how nonchalantly and professional Daud already was at minding his own business, just pretending to check his uniform. It was like looking at a bored Corvo, only Daud was a lot less easier to read.  
Emily would head out when she deemed it was safe, actually finding this to be a great thing to learn from.  
When they reached the halls towards her room, she knew there wasn't a lot of people there, and her maid was asleep... So...

"We should do this another time. You can teach me to hide better, so I won't ever be caught again." Daud swallowed hard.

"... Can I refuse...?"

"No...!" Emily grinned.

"Thought so.. I'll have to tell Corvo, though." Daud said in a hushed tone.

"That's okay. He's been with me most of the times I've "snuck" out anyway." Emily smiled a bit and waved to Daud. "Thank you for loaning me the sword...! Goodnight!"

Daud only waved to her, unable to get a smile on that face. He quickly removed himself from those halls, and went back to Corvo's, to tell him about what had happened.

Corvo was asleep on his desk again, Daud sighing deeply, and picked up the Lord Protector bridal style, to carry him to bed. And due to Corvo not waking up from this ordeal, Daud settled on his couch, writing a report while things were still fresh in his mind, and left it on Corvo's desk. He was about to head to bed, but stopped beside Corvo's bed, pausing for a moment.  
Not sure why, he leaned down to Corvo, stroking some hair out of his face, and placed a kiss on his temple.

Corvo slept through it, lips half lidded as he slept.

Daud went to his own bed, slipping under the covers, getting some relief from the usual lingering pain after his body warmed up, for the fire was burning well. Then, he swallowed down hard again, lying so whatever was irritating his throat would run down. It was the sludge, of course, but for now, it was a mild.

Corvo, for once, woke up before Daud, who was usually always awake before him as of late. Sleep evaded his spy, and Corvo never got it out of him what was th problem. Despite them getting closer, Daud shut himself off more, especially after that kiss which they shared, those few days ago.  
But Corvo would get his answers out of him soon enough. By directly asking, of course, reading his journal was no longer needed.

He got dressed, hearing the spy in the couch stir from his sleep, and guessed it was best to fix his beard a bit, so he did so, only to be joined by Daud a few moments later. Corvo said nothing, Daud kept silent too, it was just a normal morning.  
Until Corvo kissed Daud after he washed off his face. Daud gave no other reaction than a frown to Corvo, as if wordlessly telling him to not do that again. But, he didn't wipe it off...

"You'll be attending court today." Corvo muttered, putting his towel away as he started to fix Daud's collar up, thinking the tailors did good with getting it a bit longer than normal.

Daud was very quick to reply, also quick to remove Corvo's hands off him. He continue to fix his collar properly.

"Why?"

"You tell me why you don't sleep so much, and I will tell you why." 

"A bad deal, Corvo.." Frowning, the spy rubbed at his temples. "Nightmares. As simple as that."

"What kind?"

"Doesn't matter."

"It does. If it keeps you up at night, making you take walks, it does. I need you at your... Best."

Daud patted Corvo's shoulder, and let his hand stay there. It was colder than the Void. "It's a will not to sleep, for I've started dreaming again. A will, I can't really control. It wakes me up no matter how tired I am."

Corvo sighed deeply. "Too cold, maybe? Too much pain?"

"Could be. It's hard to tell by now, I'm getting too used to it."

"Then, look forward to court, Daud." Corvo said, a small smile on his lips, as he patted his spy's shoulder right back, and moved his head a bit forward.  
Daud only frumbled, patting Corvo's cheek lightly, and turned him around to the door. "Go."

And so they went off, meeting Emily on the way. Once they were alone in the dining room, Daud joining at Emily's request, she told Corvo about what happened the last night, and that she wanted him to teach her too. She wanted them both, in fact, together to get the best training she could.

... Daud had learned it was pointless to refuse, no matter how little he wanted to do it. So, he agreed, Corvo as well.

Court started after this, all the nobles and other important people's eyes glued onto the spy which stood posed as if guarding the Empress and the Lord Protector, right by the steps to the throne. They all knew his face. They all knew exactly what he had done, and it was written all over their faces. The occasional gossip was thrown around too, especially concerning how sickly Daud looked. For he was pale as the snow, as usual, veins showing on his forehead and around his temples.

"Everyone, you are most likely wondering what this man is doing here... Daud, the Knife of Dunwall...?"  
Emily started, her advisors standing together with her, and they... Were nervous.

"Well, it's really simple... For a few months, he has been working as a spy for my Lord Protector, Corvo Attano. But that is no more."  
Daud didn't react. If he were to be executed, so be it.

"He will now be the Royal Spymaster, actually...! That is all about him, now to the other matter at hand."

... The rest of court was drowned out to Daud, as he stood there, not registering anything that was being spoken. The eyes on him. The gasps... Nothing. He just stared out into nothing, looking more angry that pissed. It was only when Corvo patted his shoulder half way through court that he reacted, snapping to look to Corvo.   
"Did you know this?" He snapped. The anger growing, and sounding in his voice too.

"Well, I knew she had plans for you, but not that. What are your thoughts?" Corvo was quick to remove his hand, as it was best it wasn't seen that they were awfully friendly with each other.

"I-... I'm glad for the extra work."

"You seem more angry than anything else."

"I don't like being so close. I'd rather keep my distance." Corvo stood quiet for a little while, and sighed... "Give it time."

"... I have no other choice." Daud muttered, and looked away from Corvo, and the Empress. He took a deep breath. Corvo headed back to the throne, standing by his daughter... And hoped Daud was paying attention to the nobles. He watched him end up glaring at the nobles without most likely realising it, and felt a bit more sure that Daud was... Relatively ok.  
Court was done, and the nobles all went back to their own. Daud making sure that they all left, as he wouldn't do anything else unless ordered to, and since Emily let him go, he... Guessed it was alright.

He returned to Corvo's offices, finding him and Emily together, Emily reading one of her books.

"There you are." Corvo uttered in a relieved tone. "Emily wanted us to train her right now, so, it's time we go." Daud nodded, and went ahead to his crate to collect his equipment. Also, he collected the extra wristbow he got... Which he took off Thomas, and cleaned it more than he should had.

They went outside to the courtyard, and started to train Emily as far as she could before she grew tired. Daud had to speak now, so he made sure to give a few pointers, tell her how to improve her stance, yup, pretty much everything she needed to hear. As well, he praised her, much to Corvo and Emily's surprise. She always smiled with glee whenever she thought she did something good, hoping that her two trainers noticed, which they did.  
Time went by quickly, and Corvo took over a bit more as she was sneaking around, Daud acting as a watch, seeing how Emily moved while she snuck around her father. 

During all of this, Daud's heart had sunk more and more as time went on. Perched on top of the tower he was on, he looked very, very downtrodden, to say the least.  
The scene happening beneath him, what he was watching, it was exactly as seeing his Whaler's. And in his sleep deprived state, which had started to very much tear at him, he saw Whaler's too for a slight moment, before he snapped himself out of it.  
And it brought tears to his eyes. And deep, painful sobs.

He was cocksure he had laid it behind him, but seeing Emily and Corvo like this, it just... Broke him.  
He hid his face in his hands, trying to calm down. But nothing helped... Until...

"Daud!"

... He looked up, rubbing at his eyes.

"We're done. Come on down."

He did as he was told, and halfway down, he paused, holding onto the window. "Pay attention, Corvo."

Emily looked curiously between Daud and her father, and nearly gasped when Daud jumped off, launching himself at Corvo, who skilfully caught him, in what looked like a hug more than anything else.

"... I got to learn that...!" She said in awe. Corvo chuckled, letting go of Daud who quickly regained his composure.

"You will, in time." Daud nodded, eyes a bit red, but it wasn't noticed.

The day went as normal after that. Corvo and Emily stayed together though, while Daud went to Corvo's quarters, ending up in front of the fireplace, sitting and actually... Meditating. Trying to purge his mind, clear it, and focus better on the task at hand.

He was interrupted by Corvo hours later, who walked in with a tray of tea, two cups at the ready. Daud looked to him, got the idea, and joined him at the desk, this time Daud sitting in the chair, and Corvo standing by him, both seeming to enjoy their tea, Daud a bit hungry, but he could wait at least a few moments with eating. He had a loaf of bread somewhere around here.   
"She's getting better and better for every day that passes by. I'm glad." Corvo said, smiling.

"What do you think so far? You gave no final thoughts."

"She'll be better than both of us." Daud said calmly.

Corvo only got a big smile on his face, seeming like he approved of that, and agreed.

They enjoyed their tea in silence for a little while longer, before Daud was done, getting up to let the Lord Protector have his desk. But, Corvo stopped him, his hand wrapping around Daud's head, and pulled him close, until their noses met. Then he stopped. He looked deeply into Daud's eyes, who... Evaded the look.

"I can see you are trying to become a better man, Daud. And you are succeeding, at least in my eyes. In Emily's too, if you ask. She wouldn't had appointed you Spymaster if she didn't trust you." He looked away. "You can, So, please, do not keep everything in. Keeping things bottled up never helps."

"There are things I can't say..."

"Of course, but- not if it hurts him to the point of tears, Daud. Not when keeping it in is literally killing you... I know pain makes it worse, it's stress, which weakens you, I've seen it. I see it now. So... Talk to me. If not, start writing a journal again. Which, I won't read- there's no need to anymore. Just do something..."

Daud frowned deeply, looking at that nose, those cheeks and lips of the Lord Protector. Being reminded of the kiss. How much he wanted those feelings about it to be true in his mind. His eyes darted away... But he leaned in, and ended up kissing the man in front of him, to well... He didn't know. Corvo nearly moved back in surprise, but ended up kissing him back, still feeling a little bit too confused about this.

Things got clear in Daud's mind by the time he pulled back, about what he needed to do...

He sighed deeply, and walked away, only to be pulled back by Corvo, again.

"... Stay with me for a while. Until I fall asleep." Corvo uttered in a hushed tone of voice, without much reason. It just felt like the right thing to do.

Daud paused... And nodded a short nod, turning away to make sure Corvo didn't see the small blush he got.

They went to the bed, ending up in each others arms. Corvo fell asleep, and Daud he... Let himself stay with him. All through the night.  
A night like any others, only one where Daud got to rest, without sleep. But that was fine.


	14. Trust

Daud started the day by staring up on the ceiling for a good while, listening to every footstep outside of the room. In just the few hours that most people had been awake, and darting around the halls outside, Daud had already picked up on quite a few differences in them. The heavy ones, the light ones... He was getting better at listening to them, and following them too, until they were gone, out of range. So, he wouldn't say that the hours locked in place by the Lord Protector's arms were wasted, no, far from it. And he was warm, comfortable... Not too bad.

At all.

He turned to look to the still sleeping Corvo, knowing all too well that it was nearing time for breakfast. And- that he should wake the other.

So, he moved ever so slightly to face Corvo with his entire body, the man too deep asleep to really react all too much to the gesture. But he did react once a hand cupped his cheek, moved up to his temples, and stroked away the hair that was stuck to his face. He only woke up slightly, aware of Daud's presence, so any alarm was far away in his tired mind.

Light fingers traced along the lines of his face as they moved down, leaving a tingling feeling in his skin... Over his cheek... Down his jawline... And to his lips, where Corvo finally opened his eyes, looking to Daud, who was quick to casually pat Corvo's face, in a more firm manner.

"Get up."  
Moving back, Corvo hoisted himself up on his elbow, only to all of suddenly turn Daud to his back, a hand on his shoulder in order to move him. He kept his arm over the spymaster's throat, smirking as he leaned down, his elbow digging into the madras.

"Morning to you too." Corvo coo'ed to a sneering Daud, who laid very openly, oddly enough. He ended up sighing deeply, and without much warning, put a hand behind Corvo's head, going ahead of Corvo even before he had properly woken up, and dragged the perplexed Lord Protector down to him, kissing him right on the lips. Corvo closed his eyes after being dragged down, ending up kissing the other back, letting it linger for more time than was really needed. But it didn't matter, he still had a little time.

"Happy?" Daud asked with an arched brow as they parted, Corvo only smirking all of sudden. "Yeah... You?"

Looking like he was caught off guard for a slight moment, Daud just pushed at Corvo, sitting up as he did, since Corvo let himself be pushed. He kept quiet, didn't really show much, but a very small smile formed on his lips once Corvo got out of bed as well.

Now it was time to get ready for court. It went quickly, as there was no fussing, just efficiency. And that was how it had to be from now on, none of the men really minding. At least, for now, for Daud might do so if he happened to end up faring worse than he already were. But no black sludge were bothering him for now. No bleeding, no nothing. Only pain, and the lingering feeling deep down in him, that it was wrong to stand as regally as he did by the throne, mere steps away from the Empress and her Lord Protector. 

The grim expression the Spymaster had gotten suddenly changed once he snapped out of his own mind, finding that he was needed for a discussion. Despite losing himself in his thoughts, Daud knew to keep one ear out. He had a habit of losing himself in thought if he was to be idle.

So court went on as it should, Corvo of course noticing by watching Daud when he was not needed that something was wrong. And even though he and Corvo rarely spoke about deep thoughts, for Daud simply refused to, avoided it or what, he knew at least some of the thoughts plaguing the Spymaster. The fact that the Rot might take Emily, or him. Or anyone else. So he guessed, now that he was to be closer to them both and most others, that the thoughts about this would be festering in his mind, maybe that's why he nearly glared down that flower pot.

... Hm. Something to talk about, maybe? Corvo took a mental note, letting Emily daydream a little bit more before he dragged her attention back to court.

If there was one thing that was sure with Daud's new position was a bigger load of work. And it was rather something he enjoyed, even though it meant he was confined to the Tower more. And most of his work meant he was alone, which only was an extra boon.  
He spend most of his time in his offices/bedroom, the man finding himself more comfortable there even if he bothered to light a fire or not, for by now the fireplace was done. He could move there, if he so wanted to. And he was considering it by now. Yet- not... Which was the reason he found himself wandering in to Corvo's room, walking in as he usually did. Corvo looked up from his paperwork, still at work even at 2 am in the morning. It was as usual for him as it was for Daud to return this late to go to bed, none of them really questioned it.  
But today something was different, with Corvo laying his work to the side, and waving Daud over to him. Perhaps he hadn't looked to the clock yet.

"It's 2 am." Daud said steadfast, but Corvo shock his head lightly, and got up. THEN Daud went over to him, Corvo smirked a bit, knowing Daud didn't like talking if he knew they could be easily heard.

"So... How was the first day?" Corvo kept a neutral, open expression.

"Good. More work keeps the mind occupied." Daud shrugged, looking over to the couch. Nodding, the Royal Protector picked up his papers again, not really feeling like stating the obvious. He trusted Daud knew his limits. And seeing him walk on over to the couch, settling down to get ready for bed, he knew his trust was earned.

It took an hour of more work, Corvo a bit too immersed into it, before he fell asleep at his couch again, only to find Daud waking him up. His skin looked damp, like he had been sweating, and the bags under his eyes told the whole story. He had woken up from another nightmare yet again. Seemed he had a break yesterday, but now it had started up again.  
Corvo sighed deeply, reaching out to take Daud's, who was stroking his hair away from his face, for it was honestly close to making the Lord Protector sneeze. Daud could tell. How? He'd rather not think about. Corvo held that hand, his fingers lacing around his wrist.  
Tired eyes met each other, Corvo only angling his head more to the side to look up to Daud.

"Get to bed, Corvo." Daud said, his other hand sliding down Corvo's arm to get a good grip to help the Lord Protector up.

"Come with me, then." Corvo muttered, the hand under his head moving ever so slightly to let a ghost of a touch stroke against Daud's fingers. It actually made Daud pull back his arm, letting go of Corvo.

He said nothing, only looking to his hand for a moment before his eyes moved back to the Lord Protector, his expression saying; "Don't.". For Corvo had failed to see that for once in months, Daud was gloveless. And he first saw that now... Corvo's heart sank a bit in his chest as he got up, Daud only moving ever so slightly to the side to give him the space he needed as he did. He avoided Corvo's eyes, and turned to go back to the couch, but... That's when Corvo reached out to him, and took his hand in his. When Daud dragged his hand away from Corvo, he got that he was gloveless. And more open than he had been in such a long time.

Whatever made him do this, he wasn't sure, but he ended up grabbing a hold of Daud from behind before he went, wrapping his arms around his torso, and hugging him close, keeping him there. In fact, he let his entire body press against Daud's, and he hid his face in Daud's neck, which... Were exposed too, now that Corvo moved it a bit with his nose.  
"Relax... I don't mind." Corvo muttered, the words needed, for Daud was extremely tense. He even froze up for the first seconds that Corvo hugged him, and his hand were now gripping Corvo's, fingers digging into his skin.

"Ow." Corvo sounded more annoyed than pained, and Daud realised his grip was a bit too hard, so he relaxed his grip.

"Look at me, Daud." Corvo muttered, breath hot against Daud's neck, not really thinking about that, though. It was warm, luckily the rot hadn't moved up that far. Daud actually moved his hands off Corvo's, who let the man go, and now had him facing him again, looking to him, expression unsure. Corvo honestly had no idea what to say to the man in front of him, for he didn't think he would do so.

So all he could do was to cup Daud's face in his hands, and pull him into a kiss. And not too sure if he was surprised, or was expecting it, Daud kissed him back, a careful kiss. Everything in the Spymaster was fighting this, now that he for once was sober when they ended up kissing. And he could taste that Corvo was sober, there was no traces of Whiskey on his lips, he didn't need to even lick his lips to know.

"It won't spread by contact like that. Then it should had already." Corvo said when they pulled back from each other, both of them red. The kiss helped to give him some time to say what he needed.

"We don't know yet." Daud muttered, letting himself stay close to Corvo, their noses almost touching, lips only a few centimetres away from each other. He didn't want to be so close, yet, something in him just... Kept him there. Corvo shock his head, and kissed the fool in front of him again. Kissed him very deeply, their lips parting to let the other one in. And they stayed like this for too long, until they both needed to breathe, Corvo the first one to pull away. And let the hands on Daud's face move down. On his neck, where a bit of it was exposed due to Daud unbuttoning his shirt ever so slightly to get cool down... And it exposed some of the rot on his chest, and when Corvo touched it, Daud oddly enough stayed calm, and didn't immediately pry his hands away. For he had a point.

But he did react once Corvo started to unbutton the rest of his shirt, making short work of it too. It was nothing much, though, just acknowledging it more than stopping it.  
The hands moving across his chest and shoulders as they removed the others shirt were warm. The one shuddering was Corvo, though, for Daud was very cold there, meaning the pain most likely was strong too. Meant just one thing...  
Once the shirt was off Daud, said man started to work on Corvo's shirt, the hands cold against his chest. But still, the shirt went off quickly.  
Everything started to go off quickly, for while they removed their shirts they found themselves kissing again, and it got more sensual. It didn't help that their hands didn't stay off each other either.

So, Daud ended up getting in bed with the Lord Protector, as Corvo brought his Spymaster with him, and ending up pinning him against the bed. Letting a hand travel down his chest, a ghost of a touch, moving down his stomach, past where it was discoloured...  
Despite how cold Daud were, by the time the two of them laid in each others arms, their skin damper than it was before, they both had heated up, Daud especially so. And was more tired than he had been for a good while. Corvo ended up with Daud's left hand in his own as Daud laid snoozing beside him. He traced the part, around where there was apparently dried, crystallised sludge, and felt it a bit too. It felt rough against the touch... Then he let his fingers trail up his arm, and got too close to the bonecharm, that was burned into Daud's skin, first now Corvo got a good look at it, and what it did to him. Veins stood out around it, moving up his arm, almost looking transparently white against the blackness. Like the edges of Daud's skin, where the discolouring wasn't truly black.

Corvo traced the area around it and not even touching the bonecharm, knowing fully well that he probably shouldn't even be close to it. He knew Daud was awake too, and would stop him if he didn't want this.

... So the fact that he didn't react, lying completely still and even nuzzling Corvo's arm absentmindedly to get more comfortable, was a pretty big thing in Corvo's eyes. It was something along the lines of true trust from Daud. A few moments later, Corvo stopped, and instead cupped Daud's face in his hands again, ending up kissing the man again, even though his lips felt a bit raw from the biting he and Daud had indulged in.

No matter. Daud kissed him back. That was all that mattered for him now, until they both got a few hours of sleep...  
He didn't get to talk to Daud, but... This was good too.


	15. Love

There was something with waking up warm. It soothed Duad's usual busy mind, his thoughts always bordering on becoming muffled by each other, giving the man headaches worse than the pain he endured, day by day. The warmth was soothing in itself, he couldn't deny that, but it was where it came from that soothed the man the most.  
Corvo.

Daud was nestled in the man's arms, one resting on his head, and the other under Daud's head, that said man rested on, not finding the position uncomfortable at all. He was rather comfy, overly happy where he laid too. He just... Really enjoyed the moment. And he wondered if he should even be allowed to.

Yet he didn't have the heart to wake Corvo, it was only around 5 am, according to the Grandfather clock positioned against the wall. 

Standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom, leaning over the sink, Corvo was staring at his own reflection, which was a rare occurrence for him. His shoulders were tense, to the point that Corvo would flinch if he hadn't gotten used to it by now.  
The red bite marks on his skin, hickeys and all just had to be so prominent and easily shown. He would much rather just feel them, an idling pain that would keep him focused throughout court, but instead he was cursed with seeing them, fighting the feeling that was nestling nicely in the depth of his guts yet again.  
He remembered everything from a few hours ago. Remember the calloused hands trailing over his skin, how it felt when they trailed along, light touches that felt like they were developing him in a an embrace he didn't want to escape. In a pain he didn't want to leave his body either.

He glanced away from his own reflection, needing to see something else.  
A towel was what he first saw, then the grumpy expression of Daud's, visible even if he was turned some degrees to look to his side. He stood with his back turned, marks across it where Corvo had held on, some red bite marks across his neck too. Marks Corvo had as well, that were angrily red. But Daud's were not, Corvo had been mindful to not make him bleed. Only leaving bruises.

Corvo wondered if they would heal. And the thought of it calmed him down, feeling like he could move.

So he did, heading over towards Daud, who draped his towel over the nearest movable screen that shielded for most of the bath. He was dressed to his pants already, the man quick if he had to be. Corvo creepered to him, knowing that he was seen, but didn't care, for neither did Daud as he let Corvo wrap his arms around him, and leave a gentle kiss on one of the red marks on his neck, avoiding the rot that almost seemed like it had moved, only under the skin... Daud only huffed approvingly.

"Get dressed, Attano." Daud murmured, his hands resting on Corvo's. Said man only hummed, letting his lips move along up to the man's jaw, fingers attempting to lace together with Daud's, but the other didn't wouldn't have it.  
A quick second later and Daud had turned around, their noses bumping into each other as he did, but it did so without much pain, so it didn't matter at all. And another second passed, and their lips met, Corvo only closing his eyes when he figured his Spymaster would stay in it, fingers stroking against Daud's back, against his spine as he slowly let his grip around Daud go once their lips separated.  
After this, Corvo was satisfied enough, and the two of them left the bathroom fully dressed, to go and attend court. Daud adjusted his gloves on the way, and Corvo dusted himself off. Keeping to the usual routine, as if nothing had happened- for in a sense, nothing had happened. If they told anyone about this, or let anyone notice, it wouldn't paint them in a favouring light, especially Daud. 

In short, Daud had no rights to be there, really. But still, he lingered, at the Lord Protector's request, and orders. The request part was new, for the first thing Corvo muttered once Daud tried to pry himself out of the other's arms, Corvo muttered a low, dreamful; "Stay with me." Like he was still dreaming, not wanting to be torn out of it. This simple little thing made the spymaster sink into the duvet again, sink back into Corvo's arms, changing the part of him that told him to go. Get away. Don't drag Corvo down with you... ... It wasn't how things were- and it was on damned time that Daud understood this.

A thing he couldn't help but to think about once he let himself glance for a very short moment towards Corvo, the man bored speaking to the several nobles who required his attention in the matters ahead, Emily occasionally needing to speak as well. Like always Daud was positioned by the steps of the throne, so that Corvo and Emily could call upon him if they needed him. And it was the case today, Corvo waving Daud to him. Once Daud reached them,Corvo's expression changed ever so slightly.

He handed Daud a letter, and that was all that was needed of him at the moment. Slipping it into his pockets, Daud knew all too well that it needed some attention later when the Nobles had left, the wax seal on it showed that.

Thinking nothing of it, Daud kept to his duties as he had to, and made sure to watch for word.

Several hours later Corvo exited dinner together with Daud, the man having been informed in a very firm manner by the Empress to join them for dinner that evening. Having no rights to decline as always, Daud joined, feeling more at ease being around the young Empress, that tonight required his attention for a lesson in stealth, asking him over the second meal.

Daud agreed, and so they were outside on the Tower grounds, dressed in warm clothing, Emily a bit more lightly than Corvo would want, but he went with it as stealth was about being quiet. And for someone untrained in it, the clothing had much to say with how much you were heard. Daud agreed about this too, having more experience than even Corvo, especially with teaching. Although most of his experience was that of men with similar clothes, it didn't matter in his eyes.

'... I hear you." Daud muttered loud enough for Emily to hear, and he heard rustling behind him from a footstep gone badly for the Empress. Corvo stared at the man with a curious eye, facing Emily's grounds.

"Not one for pistols, are you?" Corvo asked absentmindedly, as well with a hidden motive for making it easier for Emily to sneak up on them without being heard by the sharp hawk of a man before him.

"No- I prefer silent means." Daud commented, turning around to not be distracted. He looked around, deciding to ignore that sole he spotted behind the crates. But did wonder if she had maybe removed her shoe or found a stray boot she used as a distraction, for it was hard to see the size of it in the darkness. And the latter was right. Emily popped out behind Corvo, Daud hearing it just before it was too late, and was actually taken off guard, the man finding he was a bit slow as he stood staring at Emily with a bit of a strained expression. He was reaching for his sword.

But, calmly he moved his arm away, ignoring the shaking he was enduring.

The night went on with training, Daud helping to move things occasionally, so that they could change things up. It was hard work for both Corvo and Daud, but they managed.  
Yet again they stood completely still, Corvo watching for Emily, and Daud waiting to hear things. As the night went on, Emily got better and better, keeping quiet most of the time, and with little to few slip ups. And it resulted in the young girl able to sneak up to Daud without either her father or Spymaster noticing, and cleared her throat as she stood behind Daud, with a gleeful smile on her face, that showed in the light of the Whale Oil lamp they had stationed close.  
Daud reached for his sword very suddenly, not knowing why before he stopped himself, as he was completely calm, he expected this. Yet... He was jumpy. In a sense.

He took a deep inhale, and smiled once he turned around.

"Good job- Empress."

"Call me Emily-!" Said Emily with a impatient voice, having expected her Spymaster to do so by now. Yet, he was old... He might just be stubborn.

"As you wish." Daud nodded. "I think that's enough for tonight though, Emily." He muttered low, and turned to face Corvo. "What do you say?"

Fishing up the pocket watch from his pocket, Corvo nodded along, a bit of an apologetic smile on his lips. "It is indeed. Time for bed."

"... Hrm- okay. It is bed time for everyone, then." Emily turned on her heels and went to her father, taking his hand, and headed inside. Daud wandered behind them, his steps heavy.

Daud went to his own chambers, while Corvo went with Emily to get her in bed. And there he stayed for a while. As he exited, he honestly had a bit of a smile growing on his lips. One that nobody saw, not even the servants was up at this time. He went to his chambers, entered inside, and found it empty, the smile he have had not returning, then. Guessing Daud was still in his own chambers, he went on over, not wanting to sleep alone tonight. Oddly enough.

As he opened the door, Daud stood with his back turned, the darkness hiding his features pretty well due to the blackness. Corvo closed the door behind him quietly, and wandered up to the man. He didn't even pause as he put his arms around the other, wrapping around his Spymaster's broad frame. He didn't care if there was something wrong, tonight he just needed it.

"Corvo." Daud muttered, the man's voice softer than usual.

"Mhmm. Are you alright?"

"... Define okay." Voice dripping with humour, the Spymaster sighed afterwards. "There's some pain, a bit worse. I'll live." 

"Good." Corvo nuzzled Daud's neck, placing a lingering kiss on his neck, not caring that his stubble might itch. "As long as you're not bleeding and coughing."

A huff followed from Daud, and a crack. As if it was glass.

Corvo opened his eyes, and looked to Daud's face for a moment. Then... Down. To his open hand, palm outstretched.

"... Is that-?" Corvo's mood dropped.

"Yes. It's crystallised, though."

"You broke it off?"

Daud nodded. "It did nothing. It'll be good to study. Something to take to the shrines."

Corvo sighed deeply, rubbing his face against Daud's neck. He wasn't this cuddly usually, but right now, he figured he could be. Just for now, tonight. Especially because of that letter, that no doubt still laid in Daud's coat.

"Let's go to bed. Tomorrow we can sleep in." Corvo said, words quiet. Like a murmur.

It was enough to persuade his Spymaster, who got dressed again, and they both went to bed. The couch was empty for today too, looking lonely beside the lit fireplace, as they two men in the bed lost themselves to sleep.


	16. The Letter

"Tyvia, is it-...?"

Shuffling in place, the Royal Protector spent a few precious seconds turning around, having just curled up in the duvet the two had shared just moments ago to chase the warmth. He was met with the imposing back of his royal Spymaster, coat laying over his knees so it was shown to the other, who still was curled up in the duvet, cold to the bone without Daud there with him. It was a rare thing when Corvo would wake up cold like this, perhaps it was a lack of sleep that did it. Or he had just grown too attached to his spymasters presence in the bed...? Who knew.

Though extending a hand out towards Daud, Corvo rose to his knees and crawled to his spymaster's side, not minding leaving the duvet behind, although it sent a shiver through him.

"We have no one else we can trust with it. And- you know to be quiet." Corvo muttered, leaving a hand on his spymaster's shoulder, whom took a short glance towards Corvo, his eyes neutral. But as soon as they left the other, they stared out into nothing for a moment, his gaze empty to the point it worried Corvo, but quickly Daud's eyes found themselves back to the letter in his hand, which by now was gloved. He was well ready to get up, to leave for court, early as always if he was awake in the first place. Corvo needed a minute perhaps, and he would get up, but at the moment...

He let his hand travel to his assassin's neck, touch gentle, and wrapped an arm around him, letting the hand rest comfortably on the side of the man's head. Corvo then leaned up, kissed the side of his cheek, and rested his head down into the other's neck for a moment, closing his eyes. Daud had no objections to these signs of affection, he moved in to them, in fact. The moon had dropped just from the short, silent exchange they just had, none of them breaking the silence. In fact, Daud stroked his stubble against Corvo's forehead, the man reacting simply by opening his eyes. From that position Daud gestured to the grandfather clock by the wall, Corvo's heart leaping out of his chest as he sat up a bit better. But despite them being in a pickle when it came to how much time they had left to dispense, Corvo went with a steady pace, not skipping anything. He freshened up, Daud too, and they were off, making it by only a split second, the nobles coming through the doors as soon as they had taken their positions, Corvo by his daughter, and Daud at the side of the steps up to the throne, opposite of Corvo.  
This positioning was not planned, but did well, as for the rest of the forenoon and well into noon, the nobles who had a tendency to step a little too close to the young Empress while they flapped their gums kept their distance for once, not even letting a foot touch a single step.

Corvo glanced to them as they stepped closer, seeing where their eyes rested. Daud was a prominent stop, it seemed. And they grew nervous.

Understandable, and it got a very subtle, nearly hidden smile on the Lord Protector's lips.

Court ended quicker than expected, time going by quite so fast for once. Daud made sure that the nobles all left as they should, most preferredly without committing a crime, or laying plans behind the Empress' back. Things went as it should, Daud in a sense happy he didn't have to call upon the guard to shake them down. Although him giving them orders to do that was of no problem to them, simply talking to him, Daud could tell they wanted to cut his head off. Insurrection was something Daud rarely tolerated, so just giving him such looks was enough to send the guards jogging around the courtyard, Emily sometimes gleefully watching them jog around until they got so tired they threw up.

It was a subtle punishment, not one that would cause waves of hate for the new spymaster, only cautious talk, perhaps. Piss the Spymaster off and you're losing your lunch. A simple thing, and something that said Spymaster made sure was being done. The more loyal of the guards would report to him if the guards hadn't done so, but so far there had been no word.

Daud returned to Corvo, finding him together with Emily for her studies, having looked for him for a little while.

Corvo turned his attention to the man in the doorway.

"A moment, Corvo?"

"Of course." Said man got up from his seat, Emily glancing up from her book, trying to look more concentrated than she was, her tutor glaring at the two men, who stood an awfully close by now, most likely not wanting to be heard.

"Considering the time limit, I'll leave after preparations. So this is goodbye until I get back."

"... Ah." Corvo's mood dropped, and his eyes dropped from his Spymaster.

"Well, I'll come by the room in 20 minutes. Wait for me."

Daud's eyebrows raised. "Got something more to tell me?"

"Hm." Corvo tilted his head subtly to the side, a lopsided smile forming on his lips in the secrecy of their little circle. It took a solid second for Daud to understand, and he gave a simple nod, managing to stay as serious as he needed to be. Then Corvo returned to Emily, said Empress now looking up from her book completely, the tutor nearly groaning.

"Is things okay?"

"Yes." Corvo said, Daud already gone. As if he blinked. Corvo looked to the doorway one last time after having settled down again. "He's leaving already."

"... You don't want him to go? Why?"  
Oh- Corvo knew that Emily didn't know. She couldn't, things had escalated so quickly not even the rats in the Tower knew. Still, he couldn't help but to get a bit paranoid, and a bit careful with choosing his words. Then he glanced to the tutor, Corvo sighing as he formed a reply.

"He's best watched."

Back at Corvo's quarters, Daud had settled down onto the chair, already ready to go. He had even set up a plan what to do once he would set out, a trip to the old Draper's Ward would be the first place he went off to. He needed clothing for the trip, and the fact that he was set out to hunt, only knowing his target's position more than his face. It most certainly meant a good few hours out in the cold.

In his hand, he had the crystal from yesterday, Daud remembering the pain that came from breaking it off. How it shot up through his arm, as if he had just broken off his own finger, ripped it from it's bone so quickly, it left him speechless for a few seconds. It was apparently lodged deep in his hand, Daud finding it odd that parts of his hand hadn't lost it's function due to it. His fingers should be dead, if the crystal went through his hand like he thought it did, for it felt like it.

... He sighed deeply, inspecting it through the candlelight that were illuminating the desk, seeing nothing through it. It wasn't even smoky, Daud not expecting anything else, to be honest. The sludge it was created from was, after all, not see through at all...

Deciding that it was best to set his mind to something else, the Spymaster fished up the letter again while he got up, reading it while wandering over to the fireplace.

'Word in Tyvia tell of would be assassins within Dabovka, who have gotten word from within the Tower of schedules and guard posts. Do what you will with this information.

Forever loyal, Y.' A few, crudely drawn pictures were in the envelope too, and those were the only papers still surviving when Daud stood before the fireplace, burning the letter and it's envelope. Then, he settled down before it as usual, sitting cross legged while he let his mind silence itself, trying to relax. It was hard with the pulsing pain in his hand, that he kept relaxed in his lap, palm facing up to the ceiling.  
There he sat for a while, tensed shoulders lowering gradually.

Corvo entered as he said he would, Daud opening his eyes, and glancing towards him. He got up, if it had been anyone else he would had stayed seated.

The expression resting on the Lord Protector's face as he entered was a hard one to read, Daud only supposing he understood why. He didn't dare to try and be too certain of it, as he met Corvo halfway after said man had locked the door behind him, causing no alarm from the Spymaster.

It went as he supposed, actually, their meeting. Corvo cupped his face in his hand, pulled him closer with a hand on Daud's... Left hand.  
They met in a light at first kiss, feeling too light for both of them, so they moved in, letting them lose themselves a little bit more in said kiss.

Once Corvo pulled back, there was a certain expression, mixed between determined and worry.   
"I'd say good luck, Daud- but I know you won't need it." He Lord Protector said, the thought of telling him _goodbye_ not even dormant in his head. "Be careful." A pat on Daud's chest followed, Corvo's hand staying there... Until the Spymaster moved away.

"Hrmp-" A smile followed on the Spymaster's lips, but it was not joking. It was genuine. "I will, Corvo. I'll send word with courier before I arrive, as we agreed."

"Good. I'll be waiting." Corvo nodded along, and with that... They shared another kiss, more lingering by now, and both of them stepped outside, splitting up at the door, and leaving with their back's turned, both heading to their destinations. Corvo to Emily, and Daud... Well, North. He wouldn't take a ship before he got close enough to the boarder, for being shut in in a ship with people was the last thing he wanted.

Daud was crafty as he travelled out of Dunwall, he used every shortcut he knew of, and kept himself moving steadily, as it was a good way, of course, to be warm. He of course stopped by Draper's Wards first, finding himself in the many abandoned stores, looking for clothing that fit him. He did manage, although the sleeves on his outer coat was a little short, he would just have to manage. He fashioned himself a scarf out of a roll of fabric too, deciding not care for sewing the seams together, as it would only be for at least a few weeks. Nothing more. And perhaps, he could find a knitted scarf later, once he crossed the boarder.

Now running across the rooftops, Daud knew all too well that he had quite the journey ahead of him, as the forests at the end of the city got more and more visible through the light fog that had developed this part of the city. He would have to take to the roads soon, but that was fine. Perhaps, if he was lucky, a carriage would be heading out of Dunwall, so he could rest for a while. Just one way to find out, and that was to climb down, and enter said road. So now, with Dunwall fast disappearing behind him, the Royal Spymaster left, bundled up well.  
Not having any idea what he was going to, and not enjoying the uncertainty of it. Bad things would happen if Daud did not know exactly how things would go, but like now... He had no choice than to accept it.

It would be fine.

Corvo stood with his glass of blood Ox milk, against a window overlooking the river. Emily had noticed even while her nose were buried in the book that there were something off about her father, something in his eyes. He was conflicted. Thinking hard, to the point one could see the gears tick in his head. She wasn't worried, and knew her father wouldn't tell her, so she would much rather just try to... Make him think about other things. It meant more training, which he very much looked forward to. And perhaps, she could make him read to her too?

It would have to wait and see for now, though. Her tutor pulled her attention back to the book, pointing with her fingers. It made Emily frown- hrmp- she knew very well where they left off.


	17. Thoughts

With steps muffled, a shadow stalked through the ship in the middle of the night, inching through the steel corridors to to the galley. The Whale Oil lamps had been mysteriously covered, and whatever candlelight had been long since extinguished, this by the crew, but still, it helped the shadow that crept along.

A day it had been, and already the man had been quick to find himself comfortable on the crows nest, knowing very well by breaking into the captains chambers at day that it were rarely used, so he could set up some sort of camp there. He would might as well sleep too there, when said captain and his crew were quiet, tucked under the deck of their ship.

It was not that Daud didn't have coin, in fact, he was idling in the galley as he listened for sounds, flipping one. He simply had no will to engage with people, to be seen. It had been a factor for many months now,  
when not speaking to Emily or Corvo, he had been quiet. Quiet, avoiding sights, slipping into shadows easily, as he did so easily in the ship. Often he would retreat if he wasn't needed, often he'd end up in front of the fireplace if there were any, were he needed. He simply kept to himself, to Corvo and Emily, a man not friendly, not social else from to the one he was closest to.

Daud thought of this as befitting, after Corvo had pointed it out to him, and told him he felt the same. Seeing how the old spymaster had been so keen on pleasantries and cozing up to the nobility through one of the Boyles, straying from that sort of thinking was a wise choice, to not seem like him. Daud was different, on so many levels, and it had best to be shown. Subtly, of course, Daud had inched more towards the spymaster's of old, not being even known to the public.  
The coin landed into his hand, and the man moved, slipping through the heavy door, and into the galley, sneaking past the empty tables and into the kitchen, he was quick to move, the light's here were not easy to reach, nor to cover up. Whatever food he needed, he gathered up, the tool he used to open up cans with deep in his inner pocket, and luckily for that, for canned goods were most of what Daud ended up eating.  
He didn't love it, but knew the meat were better for him than most other things that the crew ate.  
Those dry crackers Daud only glanced at were one of those items, Daud simply scoffing at them.

With his pockets filled for three days, Daud left, stalking through the hallways, and out to deck again, removing any covers as he went along. For those things were his only blankets, which he would need.  
As if he had never had supernatural powers in his life, Daud climbed up to the crows nest, first stopping under it to listen for sounds.   
Nothing.  
So he was quick to slip in, throwing himself into it, more than climbing. It had his left arm burn for a moment, an old, usual thing that had started to happen more often than it had before. When he first felt it, it was as he spent too much of his strength, when he leap across the rooftops, in short, high off the new powers he received.

There had been little time to reflect on all this, Daud thought to himself as he decided on what he wanted to eat. Little time to bother with his feelings of this. Death he wasn't afraid of, so if he were to die, so be it, and yet, he felt he deserved to die, only by Corvo's hand. But seeing how things had ended up between them, how Corvo traced his features when he thought his Spymaster slept, smitten enough to kiss him casually... His wish wouldn't be fulfilled easily, for anybody. Especially Daud himself... Who... Found himself missing Corvo at his side. Missing the warmth from him. It was one nobody else could give.

Opening up the canned food, easily and slowly to not make much noise, Daud sighed deeply, ending up looking to his left arm, his eyes lingering while the lid popped off.

What would kill him first...? If he went back to how he were back when he first started to use the bonecharm, hearing it's whispers, it's quiet song lulling him, giving a sense of comfort, pulling his thoughts from Jessamine, from Emily. From the regret...

He would die quicker.

And go out in a way he would in a sense, enjoy, a sensation akin to so many years ago, when he had first been marked by The Outsider. The high of it, gaining the powers he had wanted, _craved_. It sicken Daud, had done so for years after he fell out of favour, but after the bonecharm... He felt the exact same, for this sort of strength- of, it had the most posed, cold and calculating man in the Empire excited again, like he were back when he was young. Even after all the regret that had drowned him, he still leaped across the rooftops, feeling powerful, strong, like his old self, yet with this weighing on him, but not as strongly.

It felt good. Like old times.

Then the rot set in, first at his arm. Then his strength wavered, then the bonecharm started burning into his arm, for every use, be it on purpose, or by accident. A consequence Daud hadn't even considered, not having time to. A consequence, that-...

The meat on the end of his fork stained his forehead as he rubbed at his eye, telling himself it was the smell of the hagfish. But deep inside, he knew it wasn't. He just...

... Kept eating.

Killing himself was out of the question now. Even more so as he came to terms with what the bonecharm brought on him, and his men.  
Looking up to the clear, cold skies, he aimlessly chewed on the bone he found, deciding that maybe, he would have to sleep to concentrate better.  
If he could even sleep.

One could only wait and see.  
Settling with his hands in his pockets, a bit of panic shot through the man as he quickly pulled one hand out of said pockets...  
The crystal from his hand... It was gone.

Well, now he would most certainly not get any sleep.

-

Stumbling in her own legs, Emily managed somehow to keep herself on her feet, stepping back several spaces to be able to do so, though. It left her with a huge opening, one that whomever she would be fighting could use to kill her. But luckily, the man before her were none other than her father, and Royal Protector, so she was not out of danger, else from falling over.

"Try again."  
Corvo muttered, his mood as neutral as it always used to be, yet with a certain sluggish way of moving as of late. It didn't do anything to diminish his skill, though, it simply seemed like he was distracted. Perhaps lost in his own thoughts, but still managing to concentrate enough to focus on the matters ahead of him.

"I know." Emily muttered back, a bit of a pout on her lips as she stepped close again, readying her sword. Corvo dealt another heavy hit towards her, making Emily stumble back again, but this time a lot more controlled. She was a very fast learner, and give her few chances, and she would improve, as well as get more prepared for the swings. It did help that Corvo actively avoided being unpredictable, though.  
Soon the Empress grew wary, for the forceful slams against her sword wasn't easy for her to block at such a late time of the day. So Corvo instead let her rest her arms, and took her up on his shoulders, deciding to give her a break from most things for now. With both swords at his belt, and Emily on his shoulders who started to bring Corvo's hair out of his face to help him see, the two of them headed back inside, Emily luckily not having much school work to do. So Corvo stayed with Emily for the remainder of the evening. They talked mostly about the odd sort of thing that had happened in the Tower, Emily asking if things went okay for Daud, and if he had left. Corvo nodded, eyes lowering towards the doll in his hand for a moment as she mentioned him.  
But settling the doll back to it's tea party together with the rest, Corvo reached for his own cup, calming himself with the tea.

"Corvo... Do you have time to read for me tonight?"  
The smile on Emily's face showed that she would truly appreciate it if he did, so Corvo found a smile on his own face as well, nodding.

"Already heading to bed, young lady?"

Nodding, she pouted while looking to her arms. "I can't even lift my own doll."

Chuckling, Corvo got Emily to bed, pushing the nearest armchair up close to her.

"No-"

Emily patted the side of her bed.

Without a second thought, Corvo settled on it, Emily ending up together with her, him on the duvet, and Emily under it.

He read her stories of old, a book that his daughter had picked out for him. And well into the night she finally fell asleep, Corvo ending it right there and then, placing the book at her night table. Then he left her room, after one last glance back, just... To make sure she was still safe.

He left the room afterwards, ending up in his own after some aimless walking, for what seemed like well over an hour of the Tower.

The first thing Corvo ended up doing was to settle down in his bed, fully clothed and all over the duvet and cover of the bed, looking up to the ceiling. The fireplace wasn't lit, so it made the room slightly cold, but not cold enough that Corvo was freezing.

A lot of things swirled around in his mind. Most of it was about matters concerning the Empire, and all that it carried with him. The other was the thought that... He had... Most likely sent Daud to torture.

And it weighed on him heavily.  
It was nearing the colder seasons in Tyvia by now. The snow would most likely start within just a few days or so. Gentle at first, then turn into roaring blizzards for days. He knew this from stories and rumours of the last few years, hearing it from nobles who were so unfortunate to having to visit the island.  
Sighing deeply, Corvo turned his head, finding the couch before the fireplace still there, untouched, with some black stains over it's blankets, just where Daud used to sleep. These stains were very old by now, unless Daud had failed to say anything. But seeing how Corvo was still healthy, with no black marks across his body, as far as he knew, he hadn't.  
And one thing he reminded himself off as he got up, was that Daud wasn't the type to lie to him. Never. He might hold things back, but never outright lie.

It felt good to have such a man close. Weird, but good.

His heavy coat dropped onto the bed, then his shirt. Then the belts, Corvo sitting up to remove those.  
Then the rest of his clothing followed, and Corvo found himself before a mirror, confirming that he, indeed, didn't have any rot on his body. He sighed for a moment, finding that he had luckily put on some weight since Coldridge, since everything. And that...  
He couldn't help but to want to get dressed, quickly too.

With his usual sleeping pants on, Corvo slipped into bed, curling up in order to find himself comfortable.  
... And uncomfortable as well, when his mind started to drift away from him.  
There were no explanation why his mind drifted like this, it had done so every night since he had ended up alone. The last nights he just felt like something was missing. Tonight though, it felt like everything was there, still not, something was still missing, but... Still there..  
Sensations of hands stroking along his body, echoes of Daud's rumbly voice, a voice he knew so well by now, in his ear. Corvo felt it all, as if the man himself was there, pressing against him... And it was more than enough to pull him from his half asleep state, waking Corvo. With flushed cheeks, and sweat trailing down his forehead, Corvo reached for the pocket watch on his nightstand, finding that he had been like this for well over half an hour, in more ways than one.  
Moving to his back, Corvo inhaled sharply, cursing at himself for this. Yet... Understanding it well.  
He missed Daud. He didn't want to admit it, but he did. In more ways than one- and things like this, it usually only happened when he was tired beyond reason, which, was the truth, he hadn't slept much the last week. It had only been work, little other, and every night when he got back, it was cold, and lonely there.  
Trailing his hand down, Corvo's breath hitched as soon as he took a hold of the problem down there, starting to take care of it. He squirmed in bed until he was well and done, chest quickly rising and lowering even at the end of it, his free hand curling into his hair still as he rode out the last sparks of intense pleasure.

"Daud..." Corvo uttered as if a sigh, ending up curling against the second pillow he had, not sure if it was his or Daud's, but he didn't care. He just needed to hold something...  
Sleep took Corvo like a wild wave, and he slept well for the night.

When he woke up, the first thing he did was to look through the papers he had on his nightstand, which he had left in order to read them in the morning.  
Something fell off the nightstand once he removed them, though, memories of last night flooding back to him once he spotted the crystallised blood he stole from Daud before he left.

He picked it up, checking it for damages, and... Put it in his drawer for safe keeping.

If Daud were to die, at least... This could serve as a reminder of him. 

At least.

Dragging himself out of bed, Corvo went on with his day, more awake than usual. More worried than usual too. Why, he didn't know.


	18. Snow

Nestled on the highest point of the ship, Daud watched the land before him creep closer and closer through the snow, having ventured out from the Crows Nest a few minutes prior. ... In full view of the others in the ship if they happened to look up, Daud didn't find it in him to care, honestly. He was about to leave, just a few more minutes, and he could jump off and blink onto the snowy docks, so if he was discovered, he would have a way out without needing to spill blood. The snow did help with covering for him, however, so Daud rather doubted that he would be seen as well as he didn't care, so honestly he just sat there, staring off into the upcoming docks.

The few minutes needed went by quickly, and eventually Daud readied himself, taking a deep breath before he let go of the rope he held on to, balancing well onto the wooded pole he was standing on. Rising quicker than he should for a man of his age, he dashed forward, creating some sound, and sprung from the pole, flying a while before time stopped around him, and he adjusted his view, finding a good spot. He blinked down, his Mark burning in his left hand as he landed, rolling in order to make sure he wasn't hurt unnecessarily.

" _By the Outsider_!" He heard from behind, seeing a crewman with his nose up to the snow, moustache getting wet already.

"He disappeared!"

"What, who?" A fellow crewman asked, Daud leaving them to squabble as he stepped away, brushing snow off his coat. Their voices became more and more muted as the man wandered in, inching through the darkness of the night that laid like a veil over the city.

Dabokva.

Daud guessed the snow had laid for a while. So adjusting his collar, mostly to hide the rot more than anything else, he wandered on, knowing well how to stay warm. This was not his first time in this city, nor this part of the Empire, so he had experience with the cold weather, thus why he decided on getting more clothing. Especially considering the subtle pain, always lingering deep in his bones, that burned at his mind, reminding him that yes, it was cold. Daud just grumbled, wishing his body would quit it, as he rubbed at his nose, rounding a corner to avoid folk in the streets. If he kept walking like this, he would eventually be followed, but for the moment, he didn't seem to mind all that much, just wandering along on his own pace.

He had a destination, yes, though the man didn't find it in him to reach it just yet, wanting a bit of a look over of the city before he delved into it, test the waters. He was too prone to spending strength he didn't have going in blind to things, so, it was best to be careful. For as long as he could handle.

Seeing a good way to reach higher grounds, although wishing he didn't have to, Daud swung himself up, grip after grip, springing off the walls like it was nothing. With arm painfully aching to his chest, like waves of pain, he now stood up on the rooftop he was aiming for, snow already having piled up on his shoulders, and not seeming to be wanting to melt. He sighed deeply, clenching his fists on and on due to the cold. He didn't really feel it in his fingers and arms anymore, but he made sure to keep said cold at bay anyway. For being numb, was worse than most other things Daud could think about at the moment-; he'd rather keep his fingers and arms, after all.

He kept to the rooftops, jumping at any chance that he got, and whenever he needed to blink, he made sure to see if there were any other way of getting over the gap. He wanted to stay away from people. stay out of the streets, and just... Get this done with. And go back to Dunwall. He wished, deep inside that he could go home, home to The Flooded District as he leaped over the rooftops, but knew it was folly.  
Yet...

Daud tried to keep his mind clear, and ignore the throbbing pain, something caught his attention in his peripheral vision. Something fleeting, something quick, that disappeared as soon as the man landed onto the rooftop he had leaped to. A sting pierced the mans heart as he for only a slight second after turning his head to this sight, watched a Whaler stop by him, before disappearing, not in the usual way they did, but like a hallucination, gone as quickly as it came. Having held his breath for the duration of occurrence, Daud's next breath was like a sob.

But there were no tears.  
Daud straightened himself up, not wanting to even try to look lost, nor vulnerable, quickly as if he suddenly had little time in the world looking away from where the Whaler had just stood for him. It made his head feel heavy for a moment, but the man didn't seem to mind, ending up straight back to the task at hand.  
As he flew through the air after jumping, he stopped at one place, now looking down to the streets. He needed a map, for the city, with all this snow, wouldn't be too easy to get around in if he had a set destination. For running around aimlessly, well. It induced that. It was better to just work. Nothing else.

He managed to sneak past a few people, managed to get into a guard post. There he made it a bit too easy to get a map, and out from that, he managed to find his way to his destination, after avoiding the city folk and other figures alike.  
Supposing he was not invited, the man carefully circles the building that he was going into, and casually opened a window in complete silence, the man quick to enter, skilfully flinging himself in.

He had to look around a few rooms before he found his contract, the man alike the one described in the letter. Daud could smell him too, so he huffed out loudly enough for it to be heard, standing in the middle of the big offices, where the contract was sitting with his back turned. The man looked behind him quickly, and raised an eyebrow, looking overly happy to see the man before him.

"Daud." The man before him looked surprised, and Daud, annoyed, removed the scarf that was hiding most of his face, this due to the man recognising him so quickly.

"Volya." Daud nodded, face stern and serious, as if nothing was wrong. But it was, even Volya before him found his eyes travelling down to Daud's hands, who kept themselves busy with a coin now of their own. He stood watching the hands for a while, quiet, most likely finding his words, until;

"Had a good trip?"

"Doesn't matter. Give me the name."

"... Hmm- expected." The Tyvian, supposed Noble muttered, and turned to his desk, making sure to have an eye on Daud for every second that went by, while he lifted up a folder, with a insignia, befitting of the man's status. It was held out to Daud, who had already put away his coins, slipping them into his outer pocket.  
"IT's not too uncommon for you spymasters to go straight to the point, huh?"

Keeping quiet as he read the words before him, without a word, Daud turned on his heel, needing nothing more. He wanted nothing more out of this man, Daud wanted little from nobles in general. Especially how he was eyeing his face, and the man before him in general. There was something in his eyes that Daud recognised, something that Daud recognised all too well, and were all too familiar with too from his few interactions with nobles back in the Tower. Back... Home. The word felt lost on his tongue as he went out of the front door, deciding it would look better, if someone, no matter where, was watching. He honestly wanted to check his surroundings with his Void Gaze, but decided against it, not even needing to look to his hand to come to that conclusion. With every step the man took, the cold creeped further into his bones, so it was straight to that little village mentioned in the letter.

Behind him in the bigger building, one contrasting to most others, Volya downed his drink, stomping over the wooden floor in a hurry. He seemed to be heading out quickly.

Daud however, kept to his lead, cursing what met him once he found his way out of the city herself. There were still buildings, still civilisation, but the landscape were flat, barren. Like a tundra, with woods around the place, painting the landscape and perhaps, making it seem more homely to those living outside of the city herself. But for Daud, it was a grim reminder of the days he had spent in Tyvia, how the cold burned through every layer of clothing he had. And how it would do the exact same now, only... To a much worse degree. It might even kill him.

 **Hah**.

"Doesn't matter," Daud muttered to himself as nobody were near, and nobody could see him from where he was, unless someone were actively watching him through an spyglass, and took the first few steps to his destination, two hours of walking ahead of him. Not too far, but far enough in winds, which were picking as for every step left in the snow, that was still gently falling, but the spymaster on the road could tell from years of experience that the wind would be a damned pest soon. All too soon, if the darkening clouds he could barely see was an indication. They showed due to the moon, that lit up the sky brilliantly, only giving Daud a slight sour taste in his mouth, remembering The Outsider's words to him, so many years ago.

" _There's no stars in the Void_ "

Clenching his hand a bit too much to the point he heard cracks, Daud pushed on, watching the clouds before him as he moved along, letting the damned meat sack of a body carry him along.

But luckily, a cart left the city, so Daud quickly jumped on and took a very good grip around whatever he could reach, hitching a ride onto it. The horses noticed the extra weight, but were quickly yelled at to ignore it, the reins so loud Daud could hear them. While he was held on, he decided to maybe enjoy the view a bit, at least, while he counted the voices he heard. Only two, slightly tipsy drivers, so Daud just sighed, his eyes hovering over the land before him. Snow was a rarity to him after all, as well as tree's like these, more dark green than any other tree he was too used to. The snow laid a white blanket over it all, it was clear the frost had set in, for it really struck to everything, even the walls, where the snow stuck just a bit extra, due to the heating from the houses.

It was like a painting. A one in a lifetime viewing, perhaps, a calm, relatively so, evening in Tyvia. It was rare now, wasn't it?

Daud switched his hand in a skilful manner, twisting his body along as if it was nothing, and took a good hold, glad the crystals in his hand had stayed right around there, and not moved up along his arm. Not so far now, going by carriage would most certainly not take so long. So perhaps, this wouldn't take so long. He could go home, after sending Corvo that letter.

Little did he know that the person inside that carriage, was Volya, who were at the moment, cleaning off his pistol, unaware of Daud hanging off his very own and personal carriage.

  
\-----------------

  
Meanwhile, Corvo was woken up by his loving daughter, one who had let him sleep through her lectures, despite her tutor wanting to get him up. He woke up by his own accord, as if he felt certain things move, felt himself move, as if he was moving through a blur for a moment, tossing him out of his comfortable sleep.  
A simple, familiar spark in his hand followed from his awakening, as if calling for him, and Corvo knew all too well what was happening. The smell of rust was also prominent, something all too familiar to Corvo for the last year now, was it? He hadn't managed to keep up, honestly, who had in the Tower?

Simply wanting to get this over with, he rose from his seat, one that felt different than when he first fell asleep in it. It was cold, hard...

Corvo sighed deeply, stepping out of the room, and finding the Void... Very different since the last time he was there. Certain things still looked the same, but there was something else, something darker, simply lingering in the air, as if it is not truly a problem, just a little nuisance. He supposed he had found himself in a different part of the Void, and thought nothing more of it.

  
"Just come out. I need my sleep."  
Corvo muttered, a figure appearing before him just as he looked away, Corvo quick to snap his head towards the other.

"Hello, Corvo."

Corvo's expression hardened.


	19. Forest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up for emetophobia!

One thing that was nice about his condition, one thing that at the moment proved to be a very good thing, was that the Rot in Daud's body, the pain from it it cancelled out the pain from the cold of holding onto the carriage. His fingers would very likely suffer from this, despite his gloves, but whatever care he might have he simply let be for the moment being, as he swung his body violently to the side, managing just in time to grab onto the ledge of the roof, and finding himself climbing up onto it, trying his best to not make any sound.  
And as his training predicted, yes, he managed well, the snow helping to mask his sounds as well. Only some flew off in the wind generated by the movement, and flew like a powder from the roof, leaving a beautiful sort of trail in the gusts behind it. Daud had no time to watch it, however, as he was carefully positioning himself to make sure he was able to stay onto the carriage, and not fall off if there were any sort of humps in the road, or a sudden turn. He settled with one knee on the roof, and one with his head resting on the other for a moment, just to get a breather. His fingers he kept moving, his eyes they kept looking over where they were on the road.

This was good. He supposed he had best to take more shortcuts like this from now on, as he was reminded of the cold, his face stinging from it. It was odd for the man to feel this sort of cold, honestly. It was raw, not as gentle as it was by the sea. The further inland you came, the worse it got, it seemed.

Relatively relaxed, Daud stayed on the carriage, occasionally wiping at his face to let the blood flow to it. Occasionally looking around, and occasionally shuddering, the cold quick to seep into his bones, were it settled worse than the Rot. But in truth, both the two were as cruel as the other one, both being able to slowly kill you, in each it's own ways.

This was oddly sincere, despite the raw, biting cold, Daud thought to himself. For as long as this ride would go on for, he wasn't sure, but as long as it took, he would find himself content with feeling like this, feeling like it was deserved, just for a little moment. Feeling the cold tear at him, feeling everything tear at him. How his past justifiably had led up to this.  
The snow around him kept flowing up into the air, like powder from a make up set. Daud had seen it a few times, noted how Billie got so damned angry about it every time.

His heart sunk in his chest, more than it already had done, as he absentmindedly thought of her. Then, a rush of realisation rose through him, and his heart, and everything in his body went into overdrive. He clenched his fingers as he gasped for air, having held his breath for a few too many seconds, it was hard to breathe in the cold, after all.

Billie could be affected by this.  
She could be dead.  
She could be alive, and spreading it.  
She could be alive, fine.

Where was she. Where did she go!?

So many thoughts swirled around in his head, so many scenarios, images of her lying in a pool of black sludge, heaving for breath.  
His shaking worsened, and he clenched his teeth to the point it hurt his jaw. He had to finish this. Quickly.

He had to find her. He had to see her. Just anything concerning her. She would be not too hard to track down if she was dead. It was just to draw up a picture, people would recognise her, rot on her face or not. He was about to reach for his coat, but was harshly reminded that his journal and the pencil he used was back in the Tower. Back with Corvo.  
Who hopefully wasn't sick. Wasn't dying.

He had to be fine.

She had to be fine.

Daud kept himself calm, somehow, in all of this. Kept himself on the carriage, kept an eye out for his destination. Despite every single cell in his body screaming at him to just go, run, do anything that was faster than this. But nothing was faster, and if he tried... He'd kill himself. This was one of few times where Daud did not curse his sense of logic- at least after his past. After Jessamine. After the Rot.  
Eventually the carriage neared his destination, Daud finding himself only glad he allowed his beard to grow out a little, much to Corvo's annoyance, though. It shielded his face from the biting cold at least a little bit.

The carriage started to slow it's progress through the snow and icy covered road, Daud not really thinking about it in his current state of mind. He was highly focused, nothing more than his work ahead of him was what he had in mind. And once that the carriage stopped, right outside of where he had to be, Daud paused with moving, although he really wanted to.

The two drunk drivers hopped on off, ice stuck to their larger beards, and googles well worn and dirty, on their face. Daud raised a brow, and casually let them do as they pleased, seeing them both just stomp on off into the smaller city they were in at the moment. Frowning, Daud waited. And it was worth it, for soon, the door to the carriage flew open, after a few pushes, and a familiar figure went out of it, armed to his best ability.  
Raising a brow, Daud watched the man wander over into the city, using the other two's footsteps to avoid his booths getting too wet, supposedly so.

It was like that, huh?

Daud got off the carriage, being relatively careful as he went on. Not because he was afraid of being seen, not because he didn't want the Tyvian noble to notice him, no. Because he felt the rot, idling in the back of his throat, pushing up. Like nausea, only worse. He had expected this, though, so he was well into the usual, swallowing it down until it just didn't work anymore. Or getting warm, but that was a feat that would be hard for Daud to do right now.

He followed the man, though, looking occasionally to the street signs, to make a mental map of where he came from. In this darkness, it was best to know where you came from, as he could use the carriage if he so pleased after this, if what he thought the Tyvian noble had in mind was right.  
Daud's mind started to wander, as he found the man passing Daud's destination, heading off into the lower parts of the city. Daud paused, looking to the building he was supposed to enter, and to the Tyvian noble. He knew he had a job to do, but at the same time, Volya was just... A bit too suspicious for this.  
So he followed him, steps light even in the snow. And he didn't stray far from Daud's original destination, the man stepping inside of a house really quickly, after just a few knocks. Daud supposed there were other ways of getting in, his head travelling up towards the building, to find out about potential ways in. And he did, finding an open window, just slightly so, however. It would be enough for him, he could easily slip his sword under it and get it open.  
After a few turns with his head, Daud blinked for the first time in a very long while, his hand burning, contrasting with the cold. And it shone all too much, perhaps mad it hadn't been used in so long. Who knows, all Daud could feel was the pull of the Void, and how it surged through him. It felt too good, but Daud managed to avoid letting it get to his head.  
He hung heavy off the windowsill, moving along to his best ability to see into the window, and as he swung to see- he VERY quickly had to retreat. There were many men in there, some looking his way. Daud's arm flexed hard as he continuously tried his best to hold on, the man now frowning deeply. He had to hang here for a while.  
Or...

Daud blinked to the next window, and hung off it too. It wasn't open, but from here, he could most likely sit on it, making himself exposed in the process, but he would at least hear what the men were talking about. So he did exactly that, and sharpened his senses. Listened. Tried his best to tune out the rest of the world, just for this moment.  
He first heard Volya, uttering with clear words and voice that the spy was here.

Ah.  
Daud knew exactly where this was going from now on, but kept on listening, this time not making much efforts to understand what was said.  
He kept this on for over 15 minutes, tired of hearing Volya's voice already, before he allowed the men to walk off, to go to the building they had put their man in for slaughter, and kill Daud. Who, sat above them, counting every man. A group of ten men was a lot, but not to a man who didn't find it in him to be personal about this. For there was nothing personal.

A crossbow bolt flew into the man right beside Volya's head, and he crashed to the ground, the snow dampening his fall tremendously. Volya stood frozen for a good moment, the man suddenly roaring in surprise, as he set on hop back towards the cluster of men. And at the building Daud was supposed to be in, Daud, just in the corner of his eye, saw someone react, and said man went off. Sprinting to the door. Good.

Another crossbow bolt flew off towards the man closest to Volya.

"HE'S ON THE ROOFTOPS!" One of them yelled out, and started to make snowballs. As if that would help, Daud thought to himself, until... He noted all the gravel in the balls the men were scooping up from the ground.

Daud cocked a grenade, kept it cocked until it was ready, and threw it onto the men, Volya the first to see it coming, and for the few small seconds it took for the grenade to explode, the man surprisingly enough managed to escape the worse of the blast, throwing himself away from it, and of course getting some help from the explosion itself, for it was not set to explode to kill, nor to harm.  
And with this, Daud stopped time.

And after time resumed, after the dust started to settle, screams were heard, all too many it seemed at the same time, as men fell, knocked unconscious due to the impact they made against the wall. But it was only two. For Daud were out of sleep darts, so the other two had to be punched.

And the one coming out, Daud waited for him. Waited as Volya darted off towards the carriage, for he had no other choice. His Mark didn't allow for quick reactions anymore. But soon the man fell too, Daud just punching him in the face to the point he fell unconscious and flew into the door again, as soon as he kicked it down.  
And with this, Daud set to run, glad he had found runes in his past, for he ran faster than most men would be able to do in their lifetime. And he managed well to catch up to Volya, who wasn't fast, nor good on his feet, but he anyway had managed to reach the carriage, much to Daud's annoyance. And pain.  
Grunting as he raised his left hand, Daud jumped up in order to gain more of a chance to catch the man, who by now were already attempting his escape, and he stopped time, now because of his Blink. But it was hard to focus, with the pain lingering in his body, and the Mark shooting through his arm, still Daud managed to aim, and managed to barely make it so that he could grab the carriage, and get a grip. A grip that dug his fingers into the wood, and bended the metal he was holding onto against his fingers.

Volya noticed, and only hoped that it was a bump in the road. The horses he didn't care to look to for confirmation, as all he could do was to reach his head out of the drivers seat section of the carriage, and try to see who was there. He saw no one. Not behind him either.

But Daud was there, gripping onto it. Knowing the man would look behind him.

Daud waited too long, though, and suddenly, he had to cough. But it was quiet, for he wanted some answers out of this bastard. He forced himself to be quiet, even as he felt the rot tickle down his mouth.

Daud finally climbed up onto the roof of the place again. And he straightened himself out, stretched his fingers, and waited, keeping an eye out for the head of Volya.  
He waited for half the trip, his patience growing thin due to the rot. So he punched the roof, hard enough to make a noise, and made sure to do it while the carriage was perfectly still, and the speed didn't make it thrash around. Volya screamed, he knew exactly what that was.

So in his panic, he managed to drag at the horses reins, and sent them off to the side, the carriage starting to lose it's balance, as well as the man onto it, who wasn't ready for this in his pained state, his reaction time not as good as it used to be. So Daud was thrown off, together with Volya, as the carriage crashed onto it's side, the horses following suit, both of them neighing in pain, as they tried to get up.  
Daud, however, he only grunted in pain, having been "lucky" enough to land onto his shoulder. He tried to move it, it was alright to move for now. But he did feel as he took a deeper breath to help himself get up from tumbling onto the icy road, that he had a few broken ribs. He ignored this, and gathered himself and his surroundings, seeing the horses race off, having broken free from the carriage. How they managed this, only The Outsider could tell you.

Volya groaned deeply, the only thing Daud saw of him was arms, as it seemed he had managed to save himself by falling off the road, and into the heavy snow there. Either that or he threw himself.

Lucky bastard.

He managed to get on his feet, quicker than Daud who still couldn't quite stay up, and he set off into the forest, as if he knew that Daud was still alive. Off into death itself.

As if he would have it that easy..

Daud rose to his feet, took a few steps, but stopped as soon as he did. A violent urge to cough just rushed over him, and the man fell onto his hands and knees, and promptly coughed so violently he didn't even manage to breathe through it. For every cough tears filled his wide open eyes, as he watched so much rot, so much blood, spill out of him. He clenched his now soaked hands, as he in the end, vomited, Daud's strength spent, as he fell onto his side to avoid the worse of the black sludge, and heaved for breath, the expulsion of seeming to be the last of this for now, and letting him breathe.

Daud laid there, for a few too many seconds, before he sprung up again, the bonecharm on his arm, sounding so loud at the moment. It's snow tore through Daud's head, making him dizzy, but still, he forced himself to go. To follow those footsteps, and enter the forest, his mouth and nose stained with Rot as he went in...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh- it's a setup, it's a setup-
> 
> I'm sorry :''''D


	20. Warmth in the Cold

A hollow sound rang through the man's ears, his throat tightening for every step he took, and the sickening smell and taste of Rot filled the air around him, perhaps only for him, or maybe for the world around him. He didn't know, nor did he find it in himself to even spare an extra thought about it.  
He merely followed the tracks, hurriedly as well, for out on the tundra here, even in the forests and in between the trees, the wind found a way to worm itself through, so that it could mask Volya's way. For Daud didn't see much. His vision was clouded by the tears he had spilled just seconds before. And the man himself was slow, heavy, in the waist deep snow, he almost felt as if he was dragging himself along, even without really having control of himself.

It was pain that did this to him, at least Daud had realised this before.

Suddenly, Daud found himself further into the forest, a long while from where he last registered that he had been. He took a glance back, seeing that he had gone for minutes, at least, without realising it. A familiar feeling rushed over him, but he gave it no attention, else from his heart, of course, which he couldn't quite control- it pounded hard in his chest. As if it knew what was coming.

Daud continued to follow the man, continued for a good while. He sped up eventually, walking in a quicker pace than he had before, his body swinging along with his movements as he made his way through the snow, that was luckily not as deep as it were back outside of the forest. As he wandered, the hollow song emanating from the bonecharm overpowered the creaking of the snow that Daud walked on, overpowered the howling of the wind, overpowered even his own breathing. He only heard the song, only heard it's whispers.  
It was painful. And Daud only focused on it.

The rest of the world ebbed away from Daud's consciousnesses, his task and the bonecharms song all that mattered to him. He didn't care that his nose was leaking rotting blood, that his coughing was violent and uneven as his breathing.

He just moved, leaving black stains behind him, leaving a trail of Rot. Of blood.  
Moved through the trees, slipping between them, his body plowing the snow where Volya had gone.  
And where he finally found Volya, them an having stopped to attempt to climb up a tree. Try to get up there, try to gain some warmth, for it showed on his coat and on the man itself, especially around his rather lacking beard, that he was frozen to the bone. Perhaps even worse than Daud, but he didn't care to even think about the man that was approaching him at the moment, for he wanted his life. He knew all too well who the man who was chasing him was, and that he had supernatural abilities. Some that she showed off all too well by now, Volya's teeth clenching and clattering in between each other.

He screamed, though. He didn't know where it came from, and why he sounded so utterly horrified. He was already dead, why was he terrified?

"You-" Volya started, but was cut off short, and quick by the man in front of him.

Daud's eyes seemed to focus. The eyes that had been absent, staring off into nothing, finally settled onto Volya, now far from void of emotion. Daud's eyes gained a ferocity that few men could mimic, or even boast of. And it scared Volya stiff, more than the black... Liquid that were staining his nose and mouth. And he now heard howling- but it went unnoticed due to the man before him.  
Daud marched up to Volya, who in a panicked state tried to eel away, moving as stiff as he felt, as he couldn't find the strength to resist the cold much longer.

"What in the VOID do you want!?"

After a harsh cough, Daud grabbed the man's collar, the cloth audibly cracking due to the ice that had settled into it.

"Explain yourself." Daud's voice sounded damaged, cracked. As if it wasn't his in his own ears either.

"What will it matter, you fool of a man!? We're both dead anyway!"

Daud rolled his eyes.

"You don't want to die. So talk before I hurt you."

"You're the Empress' lapdog now, you won't hurt m--" The word got stuck in Volya's throat as he was smashed against the tree, with a force of strength that was so much more than just unnatural, and to the tree too. He felt his blood boil in his body, his rib poking against his back, or maybe something else, he couldn't tell. And he has heard the wood crack behind him too, and his skull was thumbing in pain.

"I have no patience for this." Daud started- the grip around Volya's collar tightening to the point it started to hurt him.

"Tell me why you betrayed her."

"Don't you mean you!?"

"Get on with it." Daud spoke loudly, every word scratching his throat- and every second of this made him more willing to kill this fool. He spit out some black sludge to the side too.

"Do you honestly think I would tell you anyth-" His words were cut short yet again, by a punch in his nose, one where Daud actually held back.

"Can't do more!?" Volya roared, and Daud... He broke Volya's jaw in one foul swoop, the punch too fast for either men to even register that it happened, even Daud wasn't aware for the second it took to do it.  
Volya screamed, and he held onto his jaw, one other hand now gripping at Daud's face, or at least trying to. Daud let him, his feeble attempts annoyed him, though.

"... Speak." Daud growled, and clenched his hand into a fist again, raising it while Volya tried to grip at his face, smearing the Rot out more. And getting a lot on his hands.

"I just wanted revenge!" Volya roared, tears in his eyes from the pain of this. Pain of it all.

"You killed my brother! You fuck!! I fucking knew you would go, there was nobody else!"

"How!?" Daud growled again, nudging the man further up the tree. It had him coughing, looking down.

"Do you think all the guards support her!?" Volya grinned as well as he could, even though it hurt. And before he knew what was what, Daud dropped him, and he went down into the snow, the chill of it nothing compared to the wind howling through the forest.

"They said you looked terrible." Volya continued. "They said you were weak. Fucking liars."

"I am sick." Daud stated. "I am dying- even as we speak." He had a dark look in those grey eyes of his, his stare towards Volya intense as he stood over him, imposing. _Dangerous_. "But at least I'm not already dead."

And with this, Daud gripped Volya's collar, and got him up to his feet. And he drew his sword right after, Volya's instincts getting the best of him, and he started to scramble to get away. With this Volya left Daud back there, as he ventured further into the forest, watching the man run off, his nose bleeding, and his jaw hanging slack.  
Daud listened. He had picked up the howling, and he was all too aware of it.

He heard it from the direction Volya was going.  
It meant just one thing, that he could go back the way he came, and fast as well if he wanted to avoid becoming dinner. He knew wolves could go after more than one target at a time, so he turned on his heel the best he could, and started to plow through the snow again, it being a bit easier this time due to the tracks.  
He heard screaming behind just a few seconds after, and Daud knew that Volya's fate was sealed. It had been from the start, no doubt about it, but this... Was better than Daud needing to kill him. It would be too quick.

Eventually as Daud made his way back to the road, he all of sudden started to get that same cough as he had after he fell off the carriage. He coughed hard, and very loudly, heaving for breath in the already hard to breathe environment. He ended up stumbling onto a tree and leaned against it with a hand, said hand gripping onto the tree and even digging his fingers into it, the wood creaking as he did, and nearly gave him splinters even through the gloves. His entire body was shaking along with every cough, he was growing dizzy and faint, and every breath was harder and harder to chase.  
Mouth wide open, and his eyes closed shut tightly, Daud fell over, his knee's not able to keep him up anymore, and due to this, he now hung off in midair, as he hadn't let go of the tree yet. But he did eventually, and fell into the snow, the cold sting of it on his face sort of unbearable now.

He saw nothing but white once he opened his mouth, arms flailing before him to get the snow out of his face and to be able to breathe. And in this, he also tried to find a grip to get up, to just do _anything_ to get out of this, but... Every time he tried he fell again.  
And in the end, he managed to at least sit up, against the tree that he was gripping, back leaning against it as he heaved for breath, the coughing he managed to stop simply by forcing himself to.

Now he just gained back his breath, and his own mind for a moment too, for all this had him lost for a moment, his consciousness running from him.  
He stared out into nothing, eyes clearing from the tears, and that is when he noticed something approaching him.

How he had expected this. Of course they would hear him.

The _wolves_.

Blue eyes stared at the man before them, their thick fur moving along with the wind. Their muzzles were covered in blood, and said muzzles showed teeth, growling and sneering at the person before them. There were five out of what Daud could see, but with all the trees around, it wouldn't surprise him if there were more.   
Daud stared back, and reached for the sword at his hip, slowly. Then he coughed again, one he couldn't control, and it spooked the Beast's before him, causing one of them to snarl and bark at him.

They weren't approaching, though, something Daud just noticed. They were circling him, letting him move. Letting him get up to his feet even, as Daud couldn't fight sitting down. Oh- he would cut down every damned wolf that came for him, and he made sure the beasts understood this, although, perhaps it would just further his demise. He didn't care at this moment.  
The wolves snarled, one of them stepped forward, a few steps, before it stopped dead in it's tracks, barking angrily towards Daud again. Daud paused, the hand on the hilt of his sword relaxing. As he... Took a less threatening stance, and relaxed the rest of his body, but his hand didn't move from the hilt still. And h is eyes stared directly into the beast who dared to go forward to him.  
He stood more straight. And the wolves kept circling him. Aware, on guard. Threatening. But the one approaching him, stood still. Ready to pounce.

Daud slowly, as he kept eye contact with the beast, leaned down. He picked up a part of the black snow, and threw it, towards the wolf. And it jumped back, snarling as loudly as it could. Some other wolf yelped, and it quickly got a bite to it's face for that.

...  
A smile crept to Daud's mouth for a second.

He broke eye contact with the beast, and took a few steps around the tree, back to his tracks. And this, he did backwards, watching the wolves follow him, until they got too close to the scent of the Rot. Until they circles around.  
And in the end, after much coughing, and much cautious staring, they left Daud be, and backed off for good- and disappeared back further into the forest.

Daud stopped and watched the beasts run off until he couldn't see them anymore. And first then, he let himself breathe properly.

Now there were no more time for pauses. As fast as he could, he made his way in the tracks, and out, back to the carriage. Out, back to the road.  
The first thing he did once he managed to get to said carriage, was to find it's door, and force it open, but not to the point it would break.

And he slipped inside, quickly and hurriedly, finding it a complete mess inside, but he couldn't care less.  
There he found whatever he could of warmth, finding spare coats in a briefcase that had been knocked out of it's place on the top of the carriage. He huddled it around himself, and used it too to wipe off his face, as well as he could.   
He figured he could rest here. Just for a while.

So he barred the door with his sword, and slowly sunk into the cushion of the seat.  
And there he fell asleep- although he didn't mean to.

Hours later, he woke up to the sound of someone trying to force the door open. He hadn't slept deeply, luckily enough.  
Slowly Daud dragged himself up, the coat still around him, as he kicked at the side of the carriage, signalling that he was there. Whoever tried to open the door stopped for the vital second it took for Daud to remove the sword, and the door went up, Daud now worming himself out to some awestruck bystanders, who frowned deeply once they saw the man coming out, because they saw only his eyes, not his mouth not nose. Daud was clever enough to hide it.

"By the Void, are you alright?" A woman asked, she did see that Daud was frozen to the bone. She was about to reach out a hand to him, but he quickly moved away, to the side. Up towards the carriage.

"Don't touch me." Daud muttered, and looked the people over. They seemed to be from the city, perhaps merchants.

"I need warmth... Do you have fire...?" He asked, short on breath, his voice still sounding damaged, despite his rest.

The man on the carriage beside Volya's started to search his pockets.

"Good." Daud stepped away from the carriage, the women around him looking worried, and sort of suspicious. They kept their distance now, though the oldest wanted to help Daud.

"Burn the carriage..." Daud said loudly enough for the man to hear. "I can't use my fingers." It was true. They were too frozen for fine motor skills like that.

The man on the carriage paused for a good second, before he jumped off, and walked closer to Daud.

"This is yours, no?"

Daud nodded. He wasn't opposed to lying if it was about life and death.

"It's broken beyond repair. So why not use it as warmth...?" Daud tried very hard at the moment to not collapse. To not just keel over, until they left. And he managed too.

"Hrm- good point." The man agreed, and then... Managed to set fire to the carriage from the inside, burning the dry cloth on the cushions first, and eventually the flames ate up the rest of the carriage. The supposed family stayed there until the carriage was well on fire, Daud just moving a bit closer to warm up. The women were in their own carriage, though, it got too cold for them.

"Well then, stranger." The man said loud enough to be heard. Daud turned his head to him, after a little bit of a cough.

"Have a good walk back to the city. It's not far, perhaps 15 minutes. And be careful!"  
Daud waved to him, in a friendly manner. His gloves were already dark, so it didn't show that they were stained black by rotting blood.

And with this, Daud was left alone with a pyre. It felt good, standing so close, and while the ice melted around it, Daud settled down onto the ground to rest better.  
He even pulled down his scarf, and let his skin on his face warm up.

And here he sat for hours, until the fire was overtaken by the cold winds, and put out. At least, whatever Rot he had spilled on and in it was gone by now, so... Daud felt comfortable leaving it.  
One last look back, and Daud got on his feet, finding himself on the road back to the city by foot, confident he would survive by now. He felt better, warmth truly helping. His cough, though, was still there, so he pulled up his scarf as he went along. 

Better not leave a trail on the road.


	21. Home

Daud knew people could tell he was sick. Every step he took through the streets of Dabovka showed it, every cough that escaped him showed it. He kept his mouth and nose covered, as he wandered, fast and with long strides. He knew all too well that he was suspicious, that he could be stopped by the damned lackeys of the Judges soon, that he most certainly either had to fight, or run away from, and considering how he was feeling, how the cold had his fingers number than usual, he knew he had only one shot. And that was to fight. Running would make things worse...

Everything would get worse as things were right now.  
He kept wandering the streets, alleyways, through the city. Heading to the docks.

He was figuring out what to do. For even through the dreaded to admit to it, he knew that he couldn't go home now. He was too infectious to stay in a crowded ship with the crew. He could even, at this point, fall unconscious. Sleep for days, as Corvo told him when he just... Fell unconscious.

No... He needed to write to Corvo. But borrowing any supplies before washing up would be folly. Going into a place, touching a door handle, would be folly.  
He was stuck out in the cold. Unless, he found a place he could clean up after he had been there. Or burn.

An abandoned building it was, then. But it was not as certain as in Dunwall that he would find any. There hadn't been a Rat Plague here, though there were a different one, it was not one that took out entire families.

He sighed, and looked around him, finding a good spot in between a few buildings to latch onto, and start his rather steep climb up.  
He took a few breaths, looked down to his feet, up to his hands. Took a glance to his shoulders as well, to ground himself, to make sure that he was still there, still human. Also, this was to brace himself. He bent his knees, body twisting into a stance that told any onlookers, although there were none, that he was a man of acrobatic skill. The bonecharm hissed loudly, cancelling out any other noise, as Daud very quickly leap from the ground, gaining unnatural height, as he flung himself into the air. He reached out an arm, quickly latching onto where he wanted to be, and as if it was nothing, he reached out his other hand, gripping onto the other place he could grip. He took a deep breath again, his arm feeling warm again, but for a whole other, very bad reason.  
He kicked off the wall to ready himself, and once his feet touched it again, the wall cracked as the former assassin stepped onto it, and at the side time, flung himself up with a brute force of strength, that had him flying perfectly up, just far enough to ready a blink, unloving for a solid second but was broken by him moving due to pain, and he finally materialised onto the snowy roof, luckily so.

He heaved for breath, his legs that tried so hard to keep his body up, giving out under him and he fell onto the solid matter under him, to his side.  
Damnit.

He accepted the consequences with gritted teeth, just trying to keep conscious as he coughed occasionally, the broken ribs in his chest poking onto his lungs with a harsh pain following, that combined with the rest of the pain he had from the use of the bonecharm, made it not too easy to stay away. It was enough to make him want to sleep, right there, right now, to avoid being completely unconscious, if he could ask for something so ridiculous. But it would kill him, he knew that. So...

He laid like this for over an hour, drifting in between sleep and consciousness unwillingly. Thoughts of his mission and getting back on the road kept him awake. Thoughts of what he had done kept him awake.  
Eventually, he got up.  
There were no other choice.

So he got to his feet, even though they were protesting against every movement, and he found himself looking around, clenching and moving both his hands as he stood idle, as if getting used to standing again. His eyes moved around, darting, simply scanning the view before him for something familiar, something run down and broken. And he did find it, in what seemed to be a manor, where he could also spot a few overseers outside of the place, together with too much furniture.  
Straightening his back, Daud went to the edge, stood there for a solid second, looking to his left arm. To his hand... Then back to the manor.

And thus he blinked back down to the streets, knowing the direction he needed to go.

\------------------------

"Lord Protector."

"Yes?" Corvo peered up from his papers, his eyes dark in the dimly lit offices.

"Your mail for the day, as well as the newspapers." Curnow muttered, not too happy that it was so dark in the place, yet not really finding it in himself to comment on it.

"Thank you, leave it on the desk."

"I apologise that the mail was late, I didn't come back before now." Curnow said more clearly now, placing each letters and every newspaper on the desk in an orderly fashion.

"You couldn't help it." Corvo replied back, distracted by the bunch of letters and such, and took out one newspaper, that was of particular interest. With this Curnow left, quick as he came.

Corvo sighed heavily, finally some of the Tower's men had gotten the Tyvian newspapers for the week he had missed, and now he would know why it was over a week late.

... Corvo couldn't do anything else than to stare wide eyed at the headline, and dig into the bundle of newspapers for the first one regarding that case. This explained a lot, as well as the reason the men on their way to Tyvia had been stuck out to sea for a week. Debokva had been shut off, after a mysterious fire had consumed a manor in the outskirts of the city. One that the Overseer's had been examining as well, for occult artefacts and witchcraft. The family that had lived there had been detained, and promptly questioned for their treason against the common good. And it seemed... The fire had consumed the Overseer's that were there at the moment it happened, remains were found, and due to fears of it being the work of Plague victims somehow getting into the city and needing to mask their tracks, there had been many examinations, including ships that were coming in, for despite the Tower's best efforts, Tyvia had yet to open it's boarders. There were still sick people in the streets, after all, it would take a while for Sokolov and Piero to make enough cure for everyone...

It was enough that the men had been set to wait for a while to make Corvo worry, but this?  
... Corvo reached out to the bundle of letters. Every letter went through him, before anything else, so he had them all.

He found in the bundle of letters, one that stood out. It was exactly what he was looking for, and what he was, honestly, hoping for.  
Corvo opened it first, and inside, he found a letter, with a familiar handwriting.

 _It is done_.  
Corvo sat back, finding that the letter had been addressed 3 days before the fire. He sunk down into his seat, so many things going through his mind about all of this, and most was about Daud. He in a sense knew it wasn't his work, but... He couldn't help but to worry.

\------------------------

"It is done."

The three words were read for the second time that day, only three days after he first got it. Eyes went to the calendar on the desk of his, bundled under the all the paper and paperwork that had been stacked there. The spymasters work, that fell onto Corvo due to his absence. He brushed away the papers, letter still in his hand, and crossed off another day.  
It was late in the evening, too late for a man to be working, in fact, but a certain young Empress wanted her Lord Protector's attention, and he no reservations for training her. Time went so quickly, that it had only been a few minutes since Corvo returned to his offices, tired to the bone, yet... Needing this paperwork done by tomorrow morning.  
He settled down, writing idly, the thought of Daud being a few days late still very prominent in his mind, but it luckily did not distract him too much. Another day, though... ... He sighed to chase the thought out of his head.

Hours went by, and the Lord Protector fell asleep at his deck, head nestled in between his arms. He slept deeply, chest heaving up and down gently, his long hair hiding his face, that was heavy, tired.  
In the very early morning hours, Corvo was woken up by a certain Empress.

"Corvo... You shouldn't sleep like that..." She first uttered, before she turned to the door and took a hold of her father's hand, tugging at him. "And you need to talk to some of the servants and guards. They need help finding an intruder..."

"A what...?" Corvo quickly got up, and headed with his daughter to the hallways, keeping her close, actually pissed at the maids and guards for sending her alone to him.

"Tell me what happened." Corvo said as soon as he had their attention.

The maid muttered low, looking scared.

"We first heard some of the water pipes roar with running water. We asked the guards to look into it, but they didn't really care." The guard in question looked away, ashamed. He even had a red tint in his face.

"Then, we just waited. And said bathroom door closed, so we went in thinking it was empty, and found it... Utterly clean, and without anyone. It is more clean than anything we could do...-"

The cogs in Corvo's head stopped on an idea. On a hunch. But he needed to hear the rest of it before he settled on it.

"And it was then we saw someone walk down the hallways, and disappear in the darkness...! We don't know where he or she is now, but we saw them further down...!"  
Emily seemed spooked, but Corvo... Had a slight bit of hope in his eyes, lips halfly parted as he listened.

"Come, Emily. You're safer with me." Corvo muttered, and took her hand, starting to head down to the place the maids were talking about. They stood quiet, together with the guards, and luckily so, for Corvo turned around. "You are all fired, for making Emily go alone. Go speak to Captain Curnow."  
They all left, in a hurry, although most of them muttered things so low Corvo and Emily couldn't hear it, but it didn't matter. Corvo's head was buzzing, with protecting Emily, and...  
As his hand hovered over the door, and he tried to open it... With a hope that it was Daud. That he was home.  
He found it locked. The key was in the keyhole when he checked.

He gained a smile, much to Emily's confusion, visible too. "... Corvo?"

"It's Daud. He's back." Corvo said, sighing deeply out of relief. Emily looked confused.

"... How do you know?"

"He always has the key to his room on him. No matter what. And it is--" Corvo was interrupted, by said key turning in the keyhole, and the handle on the door turned.

Both the Empress and Corvo stepped aside, and was met with a very sickly looking, and tired looking Daud in the very slightly open door, barely standing as he leaned onto the door frame. There were no rot on his face, and his hair was a mess and newly cleaned, and he was dressed for sleep... Which explained everything... Much to Corvo's disappointment.  
Yet seeing him had Corvo's heart soar in his chest, as he gained such a relieved and happy look on his face, a soft, warm smile on his lips.

"Daud..." Corvo muttered, a bit too lovingly.

"Corvo... Empress..." Daud nodded to them both, sighing heavily as he leaned his head back onto the door frame, which he was keeping himself up on. "What is it...?" He seemed distracted, not there, when he spoke...

"You... Didn't announce your homecoming... So, some maids got scared." Corvo stood where he were, although he wanted to hug the fool before him. Hug and not let go. He needed to do more than just talk, but it seemed, honestly, that Daud was too unwell to even stand... And if he didn't take up contact with him, it meant just one thing... He was bleeding too much.

"... Supposed that would happen." Daud just muttered, and crossed his arms the best he could. "Mind me sleeping...?" He gestured to the bed behind him with his head, supposing that they understood why just by looking at him.

"... No." Corvo said, a bit shakily, not really knowing why he felt the need to reply with that. "But first... What happened, Daud? Why are you... Like this?"

Daud sighed, and lifted himself off the door frame, Corvo nearly reaching out to him to help him. He stopped himself, however, knowing it would look bad in front of Emily... Nobody could know- not even her. Not yet.

Daud returned with a sealed letter, after having inspected it, and handed it to Corvo. "The report... It's clean." He added.

Looking to the letter in his hand, then to Daud, he understood. And looking at how a trail of black fell from his spymasters nose... He... "... Come, Emily. We should let him rest." Corvo muttered, and took his daughters hand again, who looked up to Daud, then to her father. Daud was quick to close the door again, and pushed himself off, heaving back to bed again, slipping under the covers.

And there he finally got some sleep, for the moment unaware that he was bleeding.

In Corvo's offices, Corvo read over the report Daud had written, as well as a more personalised explanation of why he ended up like this.  
And indeed, Daud was not at fault when it came to the fire. All he had done there was to collect whatever artefacts there were, and leave after a short rest, it was two more days before the fire would start then. He wrote the letter there, and sent it after leaving.

"-then, I found another place. Better, less broken down, with a fireplace. Got new clothes, and cleaned myself up. Rested there until I felt I could go. Found a captain of a ship and paid him handsomely for passage back to Dunwall. Kept out of the sights of the examinators.-"

Corvo sighed, sitting more back...  
... He figured he'd go by Daud later tonight, and move him to his room, in the couch. It was warmer there, in front of the fireplace.

The day went on, as normal, until the late evening, when the Tower's staff all laid asleep. Corvo slowly picked the now unconscious Daud up into his arms, carrying him bridal style, and unlocked the door, having gotten in through the vent up by the ceiling. He walked slowly to not wake him, and carefully, to not be seen. Once in his offices, he set up the couch, placed his lover there, before the lit fire, adding some extra wood to it, so it would last longer...

Then he turned around, to him.  
He wiped away the traces of rot with a towel, and tucked it under his head... To then go to bed.

He slept better than he had for a very good while.


	22. Bone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry it takes forever for me to update lately! But as I've said before, I'm not dropping my stories. c':
> 
> Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Daud sat on the edge of the couch, just having woken up. His body felt heavy, and his mind was a mess, to the point he rested his head in his hand.

There was something in this, sitting idly without working.  
Daud didn't find himself liking it, no, far from it, but he found himself rather comfortable with the idea, much to his mild horror. Comfortable for the main reason that he felt the same tiredness he had in the months after... She fell to his blade. An emptiness that swallowed him whole, not leaving him with a single bubble to chase for breath in the emptiness he was drowning in.  
He was so tired. Even after The Outsider knows how many hours of sleep that he have just had, even after knowing that the rot had calmed, feeling that his ribs were healing but still painful, he... Didn't really find much to even be awake for.  
Billie's survival was still on his mind, but as he was now, there were no going out after her. And with his position, there were no going out for a while either, as he felt so prominently with every move, and every look around him, knowing where he was and what had happened for the last months...

He was supposed to be dead- he just knew it. And the feeling he had in his chest about this, about it all, made him realise that the thought of death was still prominent in his mind, still there, still a wish he had. He couldn't deny it, and he couldn't deny that the thought of death was a bit of a comfort. He knew that he would have to die for a reason other than due to the rot or the pain from it, though, so... It was still to stay alive for the man sitting in the couch, before the fireplace, the parts of his skin that wasn't black burning from the warmth of it.  
And while letting his eyes wander from the fireplace, the thoughts settled more in him once he looked to his bare hand, and how the crystallised Rot were piercing his skin, painlessly and ugly, creating spikes that he could maim a man with if he so wished. He had already cut himself on them, already knew that they were dangerous, thus why he had torn some off. To try and stop it. But they just grew back, as if injured and needing to repair themselves. Daud started to wonder if this was something he could control. If it was something he did. He hoped it was not.

His eyes didn't leave the hand, before some hunger set in him. He hadn't coughed since he woke up, didn't feel the need to, so he supposed he was in the clear for now, enough to maybe even eat.  
But leaving this place, the warmth? He shuddered at the thought, both literally and mentally. He didn't want to start coughing again, and one wrong move, and he could.

His eyes finally went off his hand, and instead settled to stare into the flames. Tired, weary eyes, sick of killing, sick of the pain he caused, exhausted about everything.

Daud wondered if he even could die.  
The amount of blood he had lost in Tyvia should had killed him. It was akin to the blood he had let spill from a particular bastard of a man he found a rare joy in ending his life, watching him slowly bleed out. He remembered the amount of blood surrounding him as the life ebbed away in his eyes, and it was more blood from Daud himself in Tyvia by far.  
He was coughing up his own insides, maybe. His body were perhaps becoming a husk.

Then why could he still eat... Why did his body still function...?

Grumbling, Daud idly stroked a finger over the crystallised sludge on his hand...  
And broke it off.

He threw it into the fire, focused and shutting out the rest of the world, to then start to dig into his things, which laid by him, Corvo apparently having moved his things as well as the man himself. He pulled out a knife, a smaller one, that he stored usually in his boot for emergencies, and if he was cornered. 

Staring at the knife, he wasn't sure what prompted him to pull it up and to direct it's tip towards the palm of his hand. Morbid curiosity, perhaps?  
He poked himself in the hand with the knife, digging it in only an inch into it. And he watched how the black sludge started to drip out of the entry wound, and pool up in a disgusting mess around the knife's blade.  
He kept digging into the skin, flesh tearing as his knife stopped by something hard. Daud paused, the pain of it nothing compared to what he was usually in. He inched the knife towards it and scraped against it, watching it as it dug deeper, and having angled it in such a way that he still saw the blade. Still saw his hand from the inside... Continued until he dug too deep into his palm, and another thing in his hand stopped him, his bones. Now he couldn't go any further, unless he felt like breaking the bone, tearing it open as he did with his flesh by the crystallised sludge.

He didn't, and pulled the knife out and threw it aside, letting it clash against the wall. He then proceeded to elevate his hand. He was about to reach for for the pick in the fireplace, having been left there by Daud earlier, but... 

"Daud."

A familiar voice suddenly sounded through the room. Daud froze in mid movement, and turned to see Corvo, in the door. He had a neutral expression for now, but as soon as the door closed behind him, he let a smile through while wandering up to the other.

"... You've been out for a week, and three days." Corvo muttered, and casually, as if it was nothing, brought his hand up to Daud's face, and stroked back some lose hair strands that was hanging down his face. "How are you feeling?"

Daud let him do as he wanted for now, and only stared at Corvo, having turned well enough to do.

"... I'm tired." Daud managed to say after a few too many seconds of silence. In these seconds, Corvo had noted his Spymaster's hand, and were now settling beside him on the couch, taking his hand and wrapping it up with the towel he had brought under Daud's face. It was nearly spotless, just one little spot of sludge on it from when Daud slept the first day.

"... Ripped the crystals while moving?" Corvo asked- tilting his head ever so slightly towards the other as he worked on the wrapping.

"Drove a knife into my palm to see how far they go." Daud muttered casually, letting Corvo keep his hand in his own for a little while.

"... What?" Corvo looked... Disturbed, with a mix of annoyed as well.

Daud didn't reply. He just stared into the fireplace, supposing burning the wound shut would just make things worse, indeed...

Corvo... Brought a hand up to his spymasters head, twisting around it and making sure he had a good, yet gentle grip around it, and... Pulled Daud's head to rest on his shoulder. Because by now, he could tell that Daud was not alright- and he wanted to at least make an effort with reliving some of the tiredness from Daud. It seemed to help, Daud sighing deep and heavy, as he let his head rest against Corvo's shoulder, even finding himself nuzzling him a bit.

"I broke a few ribs too." Daud muttered, keeping his voice low. "They're not as bad as they were, though. You doing this proved it."

"Then we bandage your chest up." Corvo murmured, nudging and sort of nuzzling his spymasters head.

"Yeah. When I heal, Corvo-..."

Said man kept quiet as Daud inhaled, slow and deep. He seemed to need a few moments to speak, maybe he needed some tea too, considering he sounded like his throat was parched beyond reason.

"I will have to go."

...

"Where?"

"I think one of my Whaler's might still be alive. I banished her before things got bad.

Billie Lurk."

"... Then, I suppose I'll start to find some men suitable to be your spies in the meantime. They will help, so that you don't need to travel again." Corvo's voice was soft, oddly so.

"We need you here. Do remember that you are the Spymaster of the Empress, Daud."  
Daud paused, but found himself with a small, amused smile, knowing that Corvo was right. The smile faded though, remembering what she had done. Why he banished her.

"Fine."

After this and a bit of chuckling from them both, Corvo went out, getting whatever supplies he needed for the night.

It left Daud alone with his thoughts again, who casually unwrapped the towel around his hand, only to find that there were more crystals now, around his hand, than it was before.  
He wondered what did this. And had in a sense, expected it too.  
Sighing, Daud broke a few pieces of the annoying things in his hand off, not caring about the fact that he had just torn into his flesh, for it wouldn't hurt him much. Perhaps he should find a tool to trim down the things with. It would have to be a strong one, perhaps even automated, considering that he needed a lot of strength to do it with. They were not as glass, more like rock.  
Then Daud coughed, to see if he was bleeding. Nothing, he felt no sludge force itself up his throat either.  
Odd, he thought to himself, perhaps being too used to it, and was taken out of his mind by Corvo coming back, closing the door quietly behind him.

"Off with the shirt."

Doing as he was told, Daud got up from the couch and to Corvo's bed instead, and now sat shirtless, allowing Corvo to work on his chest, and keep him more steady than usual using a sort of brace against the side where the ribs were broken. He knew why he got it as he have had it a lot in the past, a rib breaking here and there were common in his Whaler days, for sometimes, he did slip up and fall.  
One would think his ribs would be stronger by now.

Sighing, Corvo looked to Daud as he finished, and very casually, out of nothing, unbuttoned the pants Daud was wearing, said man just watching the other, letting him.

"... It hasn't spread." Corvo acknowledged, seeing how the rot stopped where he remembered it, right under his ribs, close to the middle of his stomach. "Good." There were a lot of relief in Corvo's voice. More than it should be, Daud thought to himself.

"I seem to not be bleeding either." Daud murmured. "Wonder wh--" Daud was shut up by Corvo just casually leaning in without him realising for the precious moment it took, and kissed him, right on the damned lips. It was just a peck, a short one.

"Why-..." Daud finished, Corvo having a small, sort of cocky smile. Daud found himself with one of his own, less cocky than Corvo though and pushed lightly at the Lord Protector, enough that he pretended to lie down. Daud got up, and went to eat, wolfing down the food, even though he knew all too well that it would lead to a stomachache later. He couldn't care less, as he returned to Corvo, the tea soothing his throat even as he went back, and settled under the covers with him, Corvo having moved to do get under them himself while Daud had been eating. He was even close to falling asleep.

Not much had been done today. But... It was at least a bit okay, Daud thought to himself as Corvo pulled him into his arms, curling around him, not planning on letting go for a while.  
Okay because of this. Because of Corvo.  
He was better with Corvo. Tired, still in pain, but it felt easier to deal with. 

Somehow.

Daud closed his eyes, and let himself relax.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Daud stop being mean to yourself. >:c
> 
> Another slow chapter for Rot, things will start to move on in the next one. c'':


End file.
